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Can the second "by" be omitted from the expression "not by (sth), but by (sth else)"?

English Language & Usage Asked on July 10, 2021

Is it correct to omit the second "by" from the following sentences?

    This is not caused by evil, but by simple ignorance.
    ..., know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.

If Conjunction Reduction rule also applies here, instead of saying "not by something but by something else", he could just say

    This is not caused by evil, but simple ignorance.
    ..., know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but faith in Jesus Christ.

One Answer

An examination of the following Google pages,
"not by force, but (by) X…X",
"not by words, but (by) X…X",
"not by chance, but (by) X…X"
"not by law, but (by) X…X",
"not by accident, but (by) X…X"
"not by nature, but (by) X…X",
permits the following conclusion: the ellipsis is rare, in almost all cases the preposition is retained.
This corresponds to my personal feeling that omitting it appears rather unnatural. However, as implied in the preceding, cases of omission are found. (I probably wouldn't omit it.)

Answered by LPH on July 10, 2021

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