posted by ckw4y on February 28, 2010 | 2 comments
When reading, I usually see "but" written as 但 or 但是, but sometimes I see it written as 不过. Is this just a matter of style or are there rules for when to use one instead of the other?
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marco64 on February 28, 2010 | reply
@ckw4y,

As I was taught, 不过 is used more in speech and less in writing. 但 and 但是 crop up much more in written Chinese. 可是 is used in both written and spoken Chinese but is much less formal than 但是.

--marco
Echo on March 1, 2010 | reply
@ckw4y & marco64,

Yes, like Marco said, 不过 is more colloquial. When you use 不过, the intonation is not as strong as 但是/但. However, generally speaking, there are not much difference between the meaning of 不过 and 但/但是.

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com