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但是 (dàn shì) — but; however

Definition

但是 is the standard everyday 'but/however' for marking contrast between two clauses. It's more formal and clause-initial than 可是 (more spoken/casual), and more common in writing than 然而.

conjunction
buthowever

Examples

  • ，但是。
    Wǒ míng tiān xiǎng qù gōng yuán, dàn shì tiān qì bù hǎo.
    I want to go to the park tomorrow, but the weather is bad.
  • ，但是。
    Tā xué xí hěn hǎo, dàn shì bú kuài lè.
    He studies very well, but he is not happy.
  • ，但是。
    Zhè ge píng guǒ dà, dàn shì bù hǎo chī.
    This apple is big, but it's not tasty.

Grammar

Appears in
100 Most Frequent Chinese WordsHSK 3.0 Level 2500 Most Frequent Chinese WordsHSK 2.0 Level 21000 Most Frequent Chinese Words2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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