Basic Grammar: all 87 lessons free
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虽然……，但是…… — Although, But
关联词「虽然……，但是……」
虽然火锅很辣，但是我很喜欢吃: Chinese says 'although' AND 'but' in the same sentence — the frame for every honest opinion with two sides.
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Memory hook
虽然 A，但是 B — concede, then decide
Two sides
The deck's three, then evaluations of a life. Hear the concession give way at 但是.
Tap any line to hear it
Concede, then decide先让一步，再拿主意
No pressure — just making it stick.
____火锅很辣，但是我很喜欢吃。
____ Huǒguō hěn là, dànshì wǒ hěn xǐhuan chī.
Although hotpot is spicy, I love it.
You want to, but there is no time. Which reply?
Although he's rich, I don't like him.
Tap the tiles in order — it checks itself when the sentence is complete. Tap a placed tile to take it back.
Your sentence
虽然工资很高，____每天都很忙。
Suīrán gōngzī hěn gāo, ____ Měitiān dōu hěn máng.
The pay is high, but every day is busy.
Your turn — say it
虽然中文很难，但是很有意思。
Chinese is hard, but it's fascinating.
我的房子很小，____离公司很近。
Wǒ de fángzi hěn xiǎo, ____ Lí gōngsī hěn jìn.
My flat is small, but it's close to work.
Give each two-sided opinion its second half.
Tap a word to fill the next gap; tap a filled sentence to clear it. Every word is used once.
Word bank
0/5Two sides, in pictures看图说两面
No pressure — just making it stick.
Four things the deck asks you to evaluate. Match each picture, then give it a 虽然……但是…… verdict.
Tap a picture, then choose its word. Picked wrong? Tap that picture and choose again. Match all the cards to finish.
Your turn — say it
虽然火锅很辣，但是我很喜欢吃火锅。
Although hotpot is spicy, I love it.
The pay is high, but every day is busy.
Tap the tiles in order — it checks itself when the sentence is complete. Tap a placed tile to take it back.
Your sentence
Your turn — say it
虽然有点儿贵，但是菜很好吃。
A bit pricey, but the food is great.
This lesson's characters
The two connectors, and the money the rich man in the deck has.
although
会two ideas joined
The traditional 雖 drew a large lizard, and the word for that creature was borrowed, long ago, for the sound of 'although' — the animal vanished into grammar. The simplified 虽 keeps the mouth and the 虫. 虽然, 'although-so', opens every two-sided sentence; 虽说 is its spoken cousin. A lizard that learned to concede a point.
but; only
形meaning + sound
A person 亻 beside 旦, the sun rising over a line — dawn — which lends the sound. 但 once meant 'only, merely'; from 'only' came the turn: but. 但是 is the everyday 'but', 不但……而且 is 'not only … but also', and 但 alone is the written 'yet'. A person standing at dawn, about to say something the night did not expect.
money
形meaning + sound
Metal 钅 with 戋 for the sound: the earliest Chinese coins were metal, some shaped like tiny spades, and 钱 was their name. 有钱 is rich, 没钱 is broke, 多少钱 is how much, 花钱 is to spend. 虽然他很有钱，但是我不喜欢他 — the deck's verdict on money.
Take these with you
Everything worth taking away. Tap any line to hear it.
Words 生词
Characters 汉字
Before you go课后回顾
- Evaluate the deck's five — family, home, job, restaurant, phone — one 虽然……但是…… each. Five fair opinions, and you have described a life.
- Next time you have to say no, open with 虽然我很想……. The 但是 that follows will be forgiven before you say it.
- Enjoy the thing English forbids: 虽然 and 但是 in one breath. Chinese lets you have both sides — that is the whole point of the lesson.