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. 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. 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. He may be a family consultant, but his own family life is bad.

Sources and further reading

Books

• HSK Standard Course 4下 (pp. 10) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• Anything Goes (无所不谈) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy

"HSK4下" is not in the list (HSK0, HSK1, HSK2, HSK3, HSK4, HSK5, HSK6) of allowed values for the "HSK" property. :Yes