Kilo Lingo

Ch 11 · Lesson 5

Concession buguo haishi

Prescribed by the AQA specification.

The short version

(suīrán) needs a partner in the next clause

，。Suīrán xià yǔ, wǒ háishi qù.

Although it's raining, I'm still going.
Why?

English uses 'although' or 'but'. Mandarin uses both: the moment you write (suīrán), plant a (dànshì), (kěshì) or (háishi) in the next clause. (dànshì) opens the clause, before its subject; (háishi) goes after the subject, before the verb.

(búguò) is a softer 'but'

，。Zhè jiā diàn búcuò, búguò yǒudiǎn guì.

This shop's good, though it's a bit pricey.
Why?

(búguò) means 'but' with the edge taken off: 'though', 'mind you'. It opens the second clause, or a new sentence, with no (suīrán) before it. In most sentences it can swap with (dànshì); it just sounds lighter and more conversational.

(háishi)… (ba): had better

。Wǒmen háishi zuò dìtiě ba.

We'd better take the underground.
Why?

In a suggestion, (háishi) before the verb means 'had better', usually with (ba) at the end: (nǐ háishi zǎodiǎn qù ba), you'd better go a bit early. After a concession the same (háishi) means 'still', and between two choices in a question it means 'or'.

That's the gist. The full article goes deeper - more examples, the edge cases, the why - and the practice below scores like a vocabulary session and earns the same XP.

Read the full article · 4 min read

Practice

Practise this lesson

10-question session

One question at a time, mixed across the exercises in this lesson. Miss one and it comes back round before the end. There are 16 in all: practise more afterwards if you want them.

Lesson 5 of 15 in this chapter

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