Anyone who is a real English grammar expert?

[Itwasthenandstillis]

I need help with the use of 'but' in a sentence (teaching English as a foreign language).

You called?

What is the issue? I hesitate to call myself an expert, but I do have an advanced degree in English literature, and I do quite a bit of editing in my work. On the other hand, I am American.

Thank you.....

I think that the use of 'but' in these two sentences is excusable but is not correct. What do you think?

'Alex has learnt that the ocean covers around 70 percent of the planet but that we know more about space than about the sea.'

'Sea pollution is not only a problem for the oceans but it can harm us too.'

....or are the sentences just clumsy? Or am I just tired?

I'm not sure what meaning the first sentence is trying to convey, but it seems that "that" may be the problem rather than "but."

I think the second sentence is all right, but I would put a comma before "but."

First should be 'and', second should be a semi colon, I think.

semi colon instead of the but, I mean.

In the first sentence, it would have to be "70% of the planet and that we know" or "70% of the planet but we know".

I would personally refrain the first sentence from the example of

'Alex has learnt that the ocean covers around 70 percent of the planet but that we know more about space than about the sea.'

To

"Alex has learnt that while the ocean covers around 70 percent of the planet, we know more about space than (about) the sea."

And the second sentence I would actually take the "it" out of the sentence to make it scan more easily.

I think they are both correct. In the first "but" suggests a surprising contrast-we would expect to know more about what happens on earth than in space but that is not the case. And the second is a "not only but also" sentence.

My objections to these sentences is that 'But' is used in sentences to connect contrasting ideas. In both these sentences the ideas on either side of the 'but' are not contrasting.

Sorry, I am cooking and reading this.... I cross posted with several of you.

This was something from a text for a 13 y.o. Swiss boy. The book book they work from and the exams are written by Swiss.

Ooh, while we're here....

I struggle with learnt and learned. Alex has learnt is used in OP's sentence. What about Alex has learned, Alex learnt, Alex learned?

Help!

That helps, OP. I was struggling with figuring out what the writer is trying to say. So you think that "and" should be used in both instead of "but."?

I struggle with learnt and learned. Alex has learnt is used in OP's sentence. What about Alex has learned, Alex learnt, Alex learned?

Definitely "learned" for me, but I am American. "Learnt" is not used in American English.

Sea pollution is harmful for both us and the oceans.

I agree that it's more clumsy than incorrect. Would second the suggestion of rephrasing the first sentence to say "while/although the ocean...." and leave out the but.

And in the second, I agree a comma in front would help. However, I'd replace "but" with a semi colon or a hyphen (I'm a fan of the hyphen, though not totally on top of the rules for using it if truth be told - someone will be along to correct me if that's an egregious suggestion though, I'm sure!

'Alex has learnt that the ocean covers around 70 percent of the planet but that we know more about space than about the sea.'

I think that this feels a bit clumsy because it is a conjunction of two phrases where the subject changes from 'Alex' to 'we'. Would it be better as:
'Alex has learnt that the ocean covers around 70 percent of the planet but that more is known about space than about the sea.'

Alex has learnt that the ocean covers around 70 per cent of the planet, but more is known about space than about the sea.

That's what I would say, I don't know if it is correct.

Or even:

'Alex has learnt that the ocean covers around 70 percent of the planet yet that more is known about space than about the sea.'

A bit more information.... this was a task to match the first half of the sentence to the correct second half. I looked at it and none of the options looked correct, but apparently these were the correct answers. I am not trained to teach(yet), but I am teaching and tutoring (one to one), from just above beginners to advanced level. I think my English is very good (but not perfect) and I also think I am doing a good job. I consider English to be quite a flexible language (at least compared to German), but THIS flexible....?

I am considering approaching his teacher

He has learned both things. So the but is correct as it contrasts the first thing he has learned - one would think that we would know more about the ocean as it covers 70% of the planet- but we don't.

As others have said, it's the punctuation that's clumsy. You need a comma after planet, then it's fine.

It's still a bit clumpy, but it's grammatically and semantically correct.

Is it an exercise for meaning or grammar? Are there other connectives to choose from?