与其说…不如说…: it's less… than…
复句 / complex sentences
Tone colorsā tone 1á tone 2ǎ tone 3à tone 4a neutral
与其说 + A，不如说 + B
A variant of 与其…不如… that works on wording, not actions: you rephrase to be more accurate. "Rather than saying A, it'd be truer to say B", naturally: "it's not so much A as B".
Very handy in essays and analysis to correct a received idea: 与其说是天赋，不如说是努力.
Examples
他的成功与其说是运气，不如说是多年努力的结果。
Tā de chénggōng yǔqí shuō shì yùnqi, bùrú shuō shì duō nián nǔlì de jiéguǒ.His success is less luck than the result of years of hard work.
与其说这是教育问题，不如说是社会问题。
Yǔqí shuō zhè shì jiàoyù wèntí, bùrú shuō shì shèhuì wèntí.It's less an education problem than a social one.
与其说我在教他，不如说我们在互相学习。
Yǔqí shuō wǒ zài jiāo tā, bùrú shuō wǒmen zài hùxiāng xuéxí.Rather than me teaching him, we're really learning from each other.
Common mistakes
✗ 与其说…不如… (missing 说) → ✓ 与其说…不如说… (keep it parallel).
✗ Confusing it with 与其…不如…: here you're not choosing an action but correcting a description.