When to use 可是 and/or 但是?

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TStodd94UK
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When to use 可是 and/or 但是?

Postby TStodd94UK » 2013-03-31, 16:05

Are there any certain rules on when you should use 可是 or 但是 because they both mean exactly the same? I apologize if this has been discussed before in a similar topic.
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Re: When to use 可是 and/or 但是?

Postby ling » 2013-03-31, 16:25

As I understand it, 但是 leans more toward the formal or written; 可是 leans more toward the informal or spoken.
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Re: When to use 可是 and/or 但是?

Postby Pangu » 2013-03-31, 20:51

TStodd94UK wrote:Are there any certain rules on when you should use 可是 or 但是 because they both mean exactly the same? I apologize if this has been discussed before in a similar topic.

可是 and 但是 are similar to "but" and "however" respectively. As ling mentioned, the former is more spoken and casual while the latter is more written and formal. Both can be used to not sound as repetitive though.

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Re: When to use 可是 and/or 但是?

Postby ling » 2013-04-01, 2:28

Pangu wrote:Both can be used to not sound as repetitive though.

...as if Chinese writers care about sounding repetitive... :D
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Re: When to use 可是 and/or 但是?

Postby morlader » 2013-04-03, 11:46

I think 可是 is also more used in the north and 但是 in the south, is that right? I have a friend from Guangxi province and he seems to almost exclusively use 但是.
An lavar coth yw lavar gwir:
Na vedn nevra dos vas a davas re hir;
Bes den heb tavas a gollas y dir.
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Re: When to use 可是 and/or 但是?

Postby Pangu » 2013-04-03, 22:22

morlader wrote:I think 可是 is also more used in the north and 但是 in the south, is that right? I have a friend from Guangxi province and he seems to almost exclusively use 但是.

Maybe. But it would be difficult to prove as I highly doubt any kind of formal study has ever been done on this :lol:

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Re: When to use 可是 and/or 但是?

Postby TStodd94UK » 2013-04-04, 9:45

Its kinda confusing how the two are used. Sorry to go off topic a bit here but It is a bit similar with 文 or 语 with some languages as whenever I'm practicing with native speakers discussing about languages sometimes I have to use either 文 or 语 to get the message across so that they understand me. Example being 日文 or 日语.
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Re: When to use 可是 and/or 但是?

Postby Pangu » 2013-04-05, 1:33

TStodd94UK wrote:Its kinda confusing how the two are used.

It shouldn't be confusing. As I stated earlier, it's similar to "but" and "however". :)

TStodd94UK wrote:Sorry to go off topic a bit here but It is a bit similar with 文 or 语 with some languages as whenever I'm practicing with native speakers discussing about languages sometimes I have to use either 文 or 语 to get the message across so that they understand me. Example being 日文 or 日语.

文 SHOULD refer to the written script while 语 SHOULD refer to the language as a whole (spoken and written). I emphasize should because in practice, most people mix it up. This is actually a pet peeve of my own... :) However, native speakers should be able to understand you no matter which you use, unless it's an accent issue.

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Re: When to use 可是 and/or 但是?

Postby OldBoring » 2013-04-07, 7:19

morlader wrote:I think 可是 is also more used in the north and 但是 in the south, is that right? I have a friend from Guangxi province and he seems to almost exclusively use 但是.

Maybe. I'm from Zhejiang and I use 但是 much more then 可是。
This is an influence from our local dialect, which has 但是 but doesn't have 可是。

And unfortunately... it's so common to hear 讲中文...

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Re: When to use 可是 and/or 但是?

Postby Satsuma » 2013-04-07, 16:56

I almost never hear 可是, and I've always thought that 可是 was more formal than 但是. :| There're no hard and fast rules when it comes to these things it seems...

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Re: When to use 可是 and/or 但是?

Postby Jayan » 2013-05-22, 15:59

One of my instructors actually did a small study on this and failed to find any regional correlation. My understanding is that it's mostly a matter of personal style.
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Re: When to use 可是 and/or 但是?

Postby hedwards » 2013-09-16, 18:29

Pangu wrote:文 SHOULD refer to the written script while 语 SHOULD refer to the language as a whole (spoken and written). I emphasize should because in practice, most people mix it up. This is actually a pet peeve of my own... :) However, native speakers should be able to understand you no matter which you use, unless it's an accent issue.


That was my feeling, but I'm not far enough along to really worry about something like that which doesn't affect comprehension noticeably. But, 中文,普通话 and 汉语 all presumably have some nuances as true synonyms that mean exactly the same thing are usually fairly rare in any language. Usually with one being an archaic form of the other. Such as amongst versus among.


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