HSK 3.0 Level 2 · Particles

但 dàn “but” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 但 means

  1. but
  2. however
  3. yet
  4. still
  5. merely
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • only
  • just

How to say 但

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale但dàn4th tone, falling

但 in a sentence

  1. 他喜欢数学，但我不喜欢。

    Tā xǐhuan shùxué, dàn wǒ bù xǐhuan.

    He likes maths, but I don’t.

    Sentence #478846 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我不饿，但我总想吃东西。

    Wǒ bú è, dàn wǒ zǒng xiǎng chī dōngxi.

    I’m not hungry, but I always want to eat something.

    Sentence #10154997 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 里面很热，但外面很冷。

    Lǐmiàn hěn rè, dàn wàimiàn hěn lěng.

    It’s very hot inside, but it’s cold outside.

    Sentence #13504833 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 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.

The character 但 (dàn) with each of its parts in a different colour
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 但

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.

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

Words related to 但

Words with 但

但是dànshì · but不但búdàn · not only

More words: Particles & Function Words

不要bùyào · don’t!们men · plural marker for pronouns一些yīxiē · some快要kuàiyào · about to那么nàme · like that那样nàyàng · that kind这么zhème · so much这样zhèyàng · this kind of

FAQs

但 (dàn) means “but” or “however”. It is an HSK 3.0 Level 2 word.
Say it dàn: dàn with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 但 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type dan with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 但 from the suggestions. Typing dan into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
但 is an HSK 3.0 Level 2 word in the official 2021 syllabus, and it is on our HSK 3.0 Band 2 word list. It is not on the older 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.