HSK 4 · Function Words

不过 búguò “but” in Chinese

Traditional 不過

What 不过 means

  1. but
  2. however
  3. only
  4. merely
  5. no more than
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • anyway (to get back to a previous topic)

How to say 不过

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale不bú2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale过guò4th tone, falling

Tone change. 不 is bù on its own. Before a fourth tone it changes to bú, and textbooks write that change in, as here. How tone changes work

不过 in a sentence

  1. 他不过是个孩子。

    Tā búguò shì ge háizi.

    He’s only a child.

    Sentence #4270097 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 不过是一个文字游戏罢了。

    Búguò shì yí ge wénzì yóuxì bàle.

    It’s just a play on words.

    Sentence #1766219 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 不过 is also very often used to mean “but; however”

    她是外国人，不过她中文说得非常好。

    Tā shì wàiguórén, búguò tā Zhōngwén shuō de fēicháng hǎo.

    She’s a foreigner, but she speaks Chinese extremely well.

    Sentence #1477270 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 不过 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.

The character 不 (bù) drawn as one shape
不bùno; not sobú in 不过

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.

The character 过 (guò) with each of its parts in a different colour
过guòto cross
  • 寸inch · cùn
  • 辶walking form of 辵 · chuòMeaning part

辶 hints at the meaning (walking); 咼 () hints at the sound. Compare it with guò.

Memory aidWalking 辶 past: to pass, to cross. In the full form 過, 咼 (guō) gave the sound.

How to write 不过

不 4 strokes · 过 6 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

不过 (búguò) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 不过 (búguò). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 不过

Words with 不

不bù · no不要bùyào · don’t!不客气bú kèqi · you’re welcome对不起duìbuqǐ · sorry不错bùcuò · not bad不好意思bùhǎoyìsi · to feel embarrassed不但búdàn · not only不同bùtóng · different不少bùshǎo · quite a few不见bújiàn · to be missing

Words with 过

过guò · to pass过年guònián · to celebrate the Chinese New Year过来guòlái · to come over难过nánguò · be grieved过去guòqù · in the past经过jīngguò · to pass过节guòjié · to celebrate a festival超过chāoguò · to surpass通过tōngguò · to pass through过程guòchéng · course of events

More words: Particles & Connectors

倍bèi · times并且bìngqiě · and比如bǐrú · for example不得不bùdébù · have no choice or option but to不仅bùjǐn · not only (… but also)差不多chàbuduō · almost从来cónglái · always大概dàgài · roughly

FAQs

不过 (búguò) means “but” or “however”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it búguò: bú with a 2nd tone, then guò 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.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 不过 is written 不過. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type buguo with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 不过 from the suggestions. Typing buguo into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
不过 is an HSK 4 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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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.