Expressing "however" with "ran'er"

然而 (rán'ér) is a conjunction used to express "however" or "but." The difference between 然而 (rán'ér) and 可是 or 不过 is that 然而 is more formal.

Structure

Statement, 然而 + [Unexpected Outcome/Contrary Statement]

Examples

• 今天我本来想去泰山玩, 然而，天却下起了大雨. Jīntiān wǒ běnlái xiǎng qù Tàishān wán, rán'ér, tiān quèxià qǐle dàyǔ.I originally wanted to go to Tai Mountain, however it was raining hard.
• 我以为他会来, 然而他一直没有来. Wǒ yǐwéi tā huì lái, rán'ér tā yīzhí méiyǒu lái.I thought he would come, but he never came.
• 虽然他是一名家庭顾问, 然而他自己的家庭生活却一团糟. Suīrán tā shì yī míng jiātíng gùwèn, rán'ér tā zìjǐ de jiātíng shēnghuó què yītuánzāo.He may be a family consultant, but his own family life is bad.

See also

• Two words for "but"
• The "however" adverb "que"
• A softer "but" with "buguo"
• Expressing "on the contrary" with "fan'er"

Sources and further reading

Books

• HSK Standard Course 4下 (pp. 10) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• 卓越汉语－公司实战篇 (pp. 58) 卓越汉语－公司实战篇 →buy
• Anything Goes (无所不谈) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy

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