Tā búdàn huì shuō Pǔtōnghuà, érqiě huì shuō Shànghǎihuà.
He can speak not only Mandarin but also Shanghainese.
Sentence #380969 from Tatoeba · translation adapted
How 不但 is built
Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.
不bùno; not sobú in 不但
不 is a single shape of 4 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.
Memory aidPicture a bar 一 across the top that nothing below can get past: not, no.
但dànbut; yet; however; still
亻person form of 人 · rén
旦dawn · dànSound part
Memory aidPerson 亻 with 旦 (dàn) for the sound: but.
How to write 不但
不 4 strokes · 但 7 strokes
Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.
Stroke order chart for 不但 (búdàn). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.
不但 (búdàn) means “not only” or “not only (… but also …)”. It is an HSK 3 word.
Say it búdàn: bú with a 2nd tone, then dàn with a 4th tone. 不 is bù on its own. Before a fourth tone it changes to bú, and textbooks write that change in, as here. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 不但 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type budan with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 不但 from the suggestions. Typing budan into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
不但 is an HSK 3 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.
Turn words into conversations
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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.
不bú2nd tone, rising
但dàn4th tone, falling
