Talk:不是……就是……

不是……就是…… ≠ 不是……而是……

@Tooironic, Wyang, Dokurrat, I don't think these are the same. For me, "他不是英國人，就是美國人" doesn't mean "He is not an Englishman but an American", but it means "If he's not a Brit, then he's an American" or more idiomatically, "He's either a Brit or an American". What do you guys think? — justin(r)leung _{{ (t...) | c=› }} 08:08, 17 November 2017 (UTC)

@Justinrleung Exactly, I have changed it. Also pinging @Atitarev. Wyang (talk) 08:12, 17 November 2017 (UTC)

@Justinrleung, Wyang Maybe I am being qiānqiǎng, but I thinked up a possiblly potiential situation:
他不是英國人，就(low pitch)是美國人。
[If] he's not a Brit, then [he]'s an American.
他不是英國人。就(high pitch)是美國人。
He's not a Brit; [he] is surely/just an American.
Even if this is possible, I don't think mentioning this is a must. Dokurrat (talk) 09:28, 17 November 2017 (UTC)

@Dokurrat You are right, it can also mean the latter if the intonation and punctuation were different. However, only the first one is a set phrase IMO, as 就是 in the latter can occur without 不是 or with other words. Wyang (talk) 10:46, 17 November 2017 (UTC)

@Wyang: I agree with you. Dokurrat (talk) 17:36, 17 November 2017 (UTC)