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I've seen and heard "mas sin embargo". My questions are:

  • Is it correct to use "mas sin embargo"?
  • Is it a pleonasm?

Example:

Mario tiene que hacer mucha tarea, mas sin embargo está jugando.

Yo creo que es un pleonasmo, mas sin embargo hay veces que es usado.

4
  • Yes I think it's a pleonasm but the problem is not being or not beign a pleonasm but that it sounds strange and even artificial. Maybe it's a reginalism but I doubt you would ever hear a native (at least in Spain) using it.
    – Laura
    Feb 22, 2012 at 15:50
  • @Laura I think the problem is that "mas" is less used than "pero". It's common to read things like "Mario tiene que hacer muchas tareas, pero sin embargo está jugando."
    – Javi
    Feb 22, 2012 at 16:05
  • @Javi wouldn't be that a pleonasm too or is it used to make more emphasis? Feb 22, 2012 at 16:08
  • @AlfredoO I think "pero sin embargo" is also a pleonasm. By the way, aren't pleonasms a way of emphasizing?
    – Javi
    Feb 22, 2012 at 16:12

1 Answer 1

6

I think it's a pleonasm because both adverbs ("mas" and "sin embargo") has an adversative meaning and adding "mas" doesn't affect the meaning of the sentence. So it's redundant.

To me, these sentences have the same meaning though using "mas sin embargo" may make the sentence more aesthetic for literature (so it will probably be more used in writing than in speaking).

Mario tiene que hacer muchas tareas, sin embargo está jugando.

Mario tiene que hacer mucha tareas, mas sin embargo está jugando.

even they are quite close in meaning to:

Mario tiene que hacer muchas tareas, pero está jugando.

Mario tiene que hacer mucha tareas, mas está jugando. (this is very formal)

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