But in meaning "except". Impression of native language speakers.
According the dictionary: 'but' means ‘except’ when it is used after words such as all, everything/nothing, everyone/no one, everybody/nobody.
Let's consider the phrase: "we know no king, but King in the North".
Do you anticipate that after the phrase "we know no king" there will be continuation (exception) or not?
Search from various English teachers...
Answers · 8
1
In my view, it's not common, everyday modern English to say "I know no + singular countable noun". It sounds literary and old-fashioned. You would normally say: "We know no kings" or even more naturally, "We don't know any kings".
So I would expect your sentence to continue with words like "but", "except", "other than", or a comparison like "I know no (other) king who treats his subjects as well as our king."
0
If I'm understanding you correctly you are asking if the sentence must continue after 'we know no king'. No, not automatically. It only continues because they are actually saying; 'The King of the North is the only king we recognise/acknowledge.' However if you don't continue it, you are denying all kings, so 'We know no king', is a complete sentence, but means something different.
It's over 10 years since I read the books though...
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