Formal Mandarin Connectives: 然而, 因此, 于是 and 尽管 (The Written Register)

Two registers, one meaning

Mandarin keeps two parallel sets of connectives. One came out of the spoken language and one came out of classical Chinese, and modern writing runs on the second.

Nothing in the right-hand column is harder than the left. They are the same joins in a different suit. What changes is who is talking and to whom. 然而 (rán ér) out of your mouth at a dinner table sounds like you are reading a report aloud; 不过 (bù guò) in the second paragraph of a formal complaint letter sounds like you shrugged.

The practical rule: if the sentence is being written down and has a reader you do not know, reach right. If it is being said to someone in the room, reach left.

然而 (rán ér) against 但是 (dàn shì) against 不过 (bù guò)

All three mean 'but'. Line them up by strength and by register at the same time, because in Mandarin those two happen to move together: the more formal the word, the harder the turn it makes.

不bú过guò (bù guò) is the softest and the most spoken. It concedes a small thing and takes nothing back. It is what you use when you like the restaurant but the bill was steep.

• 这家饭馆不错，不过有点贵。 (Zhè jiā fàn guǎn bú cuò, bú guò yǒu diǎn guì.) - This restaurant is good, though it is a bit pricey.

但dàn是shì (dàn shì) is the neutral middle. It works in speech and it works in ordinary writing. It is the safe default and you already know it.

• 他很努力，但是结果不太好。 (Tā hěn nǔ lì, dàn shì jié guǒ bú tài hǎo.) - He worked hard, but the result was not very good.

然rán而ér (rán ér) is written, and it makes a real reversal. It signals that what the reader was expecting after the first clause is about to be contradicted. It is the 'however' of an essay or an editorial, and it is nearly always at the head of a clause or, very often, at the head of a whole new sentence with a comma after it.

• 他很努力，然而结果不太好。 (Tā hěn nǔ lì, rán ér jié guǒ bú tài hǎo.) - He worked hard; the result, however, was not good.
• 这个计划看起来很简单。然而，真正做起来很难。 (Zhè ge jì huà kàn qǐ lái hěn jiǎn dān. Rán ér, zhēn zhèng zuò qǐ lái hěn nán.) - The plan looks simple. In practice, however, it is very hard to carry out.

That second pattern - full stop, then 然而 (rán ér), then a comma - is worth copying exactly. It is one of the clearest tells of competent written Mandarin, and it is completely unavailable to 不过 (bù guò), which is too light to carry a sentence opening in formal prose.

The tone shift is real. Swap 但是 (dàn shì) for 然而 (rán ér) in a message to a friend and you sound cold, or sarcastic, or both. Swap 然而 (rán ér) for 不过 (bù guò) in a report and the argument loses its spine.

因此 (yīn cǐ) against 于是 (yú shì): conclusion against sequence

This is the one section here that teaches a distinction English does not make, so slow down for it. English 'so' covers both jobs and hides the difference.

因yīn此cǐ (yīn cǐ) is a conclusion. 此 (cǐ) is the classical word for 'this', so 因此 is literally 'because of this'. It says: given the fact just stated, the following follows. It is a piece of reasoning, and it belongs in explanation, argument and any notice that gives grounds for a decision.

• 这里空气很干净，因此很多人愿意住在这里。 (Zhè lǐ kōng qì hěn gān jìng, yīn cǐ hěn duō rén yuàn yì zhù zài zhè lǐ.) - The air here is clean, and therefore a lot of people are willing to live here.
• 会议改到了下周，因此今天不用来了。 (Huì yì gǎi dào le xià zhōu, yīn cǐ jīn tiān bú yòng lái le.) - The meeting has moved to next week, so there is no need to come in today.

于yú是shì (yú shì) is a sequence. It reports that one event followed another in time, usually because the first prompted somebody to act. It belongs in narrative: stories, reports of what happened, an account of your day. There is cause in it, but the cause is incidental; the point is the order of events.

• 他没赶上车，于是走路回家了。 (Tā méi gǎn shàng chē, yú shì zǒu lù huí jiā le.) - He missed the bus, and so walked home.
• 电话没有人接，于是我自己去了一趟。 (Diàn huà méi yǒu rén jiē, yú shì wǒ zì jǐ qù le yí tàng.) - Nobody answered the phone, so I went round myself.
• 天开始下雨，于是我们回到了屋里。 (Tiān kāi shǐ xià yǔ, yú shì wǒ men huí dào le wū lǐ.) - It started to rain, so we went back inside.

The test is easy once you have it. Can you say 'and then' instead of 'so'? Then 于是 (yú shì). Can you say 'it follows that' instead of 'so'? Then 因此 (yīn cǐ).

Two sentences that show the swap breaking:

• 水是生命的基础，于是很重要。 - WRONG. Nothing happened; this is a general truth. It wants 因此 (yīn cǐ).
• 他生气了，因此走了。 - ODD. This reads like a formal deduction about a man leaving a room. It wants 于是 (yú shì).

One more difference that follows from all this: 于是 (yú shì) needs a subject that acts, so it does not sit happily in front of a state or a description. 因此 (yīn cǐ) is perfectly happy in front of one.

Both are written-register words. In speech, 所以 (suǒ yǐ) covers both jobs and nobody minds.

尽管 (jǐn guǎn) against 虽然 (suī rán)

Both mean 'although' and both sit at the head of the concession clause, so the pattern you already know transfers unchanged: the second clause still needs its partner word.

• 虽然天气很冷，但是他还是去跑步了。 (Suī rán tiān qì hěn lěng, dàn shì tā hái shì qù pǎo bù le.) - Although it was cold, he went running anyway.
• 尽管天气很冷，他还是去跑步了。 (Jǐn guǎn tiān qì hěn lěng, tā hái shì qù pǎo bù le.) - Despite the cold, he still went running.

What 尽管 (jǐn guǎn) adds is weight. 虽然 (suī rán) simply flags a contrast. 尽管 (jǐn guǎn) concedes an obstacle that is real and was expected to stop things, and then says it did not. English 'despite the fact that' is closer than plain 'although'.

Its partners in the second clause are 但是 (dàn shì), 然而 (rán ér), 还是 (hái shì) and, most formally, 仍然 (réng rán), which means 'still' and is the written twin of 还是 (hái shì).

• 尽管我们已经解释过，问题仍然没有解决。 (Jǐn guǎn wǒ men yǐ jīng jiě shì guò, wèn tí réng rán méi yǒu jiě jué.) - Although we have already explained, the problem still has not been solved.

Note the trap: 尽管 (jǐn guǎn) has a second, unrelated life as an adverb meaning 'go ahead and, feel free to'. In that use it sits before a verb, not at the head of a clause, and there is no concession anywhere in the sentence.

• 有问题尽管问我。 (Yǒu wèn tí jǐn guǎn wèn wǒ.) - If you have questions, feel free to ask me.
• 你尽管说。 (Nǐ jǐn guǎn shuō.) - Go ahead and say it.

Position tells you which one you are looking at. Clause-initial with a second clause coming: 'although'. Directly in front of a verb with no contrast: 'feel free to'.

由于 (yóu yú) and its partner

The formal 'because' is 由于 (yóu yú), and it belongs with this set because it pairs with them. 由于 (yóu yú) heads the cause clause and is answered by 因此 (yīn cǐ) or 所以 (suǒ yǐ) in the second.

• 由于天气原因，飞机晚了两个小时。 (Yóu yú tiān qì yuán yīn, fēi jī wǎn le liǎng ge xiǎo shí.) - Owing to the weather, the plane was two hours late.
• 由于时间不够，因此我们只讲了一半。 (Yóu yú shí jiān bú gòu, yīn cǐ wǒ men zhǐ jiǎng le yí bàn.) - As there was not enough time, we only got through half of it.

One hard restriction: 由于 (yóu yú) cannot trail at the end. 因为 (yīn wèi) can be tacked on afterwards the way English 'because' can, but 由于 (yóu yú) cannot, and it cannot answer the question 'why?' on its own either.

• 我没去，因为下雨了。 (Wǒ méi qù, yīn wèi xià yǔ le.) - I did not go, because it rained. RIGHT.
• 我没去，由于下雨了。 - WRONG. 由于 has to come first.

The full 于 (yú) family - 对于, 关于, 至于, 属于 and the rest - is its own topic, and it is where formal Mandarin really lives. See the page linked at the end.

What the register actually does to a sentence

Take one thought and write it three ways.

1. 这个办法不错，不过有点慢。 (Zhè ge bàn fǎ bú cuò, bú guò yǒu diǎn màn.) - Casual. Two colleagues at a desk. You are not really objecting.
2. 这个办法不错，但是有点慢。 (Zhè ge bàn fǎ bú cuò, dàn shì yǒu diǎn màn.) - Neutral. Works spoken or written. A plain objection.
3. 这个办法有一定的作用。然而，速度太慢。 (Zhè ge bàn fǎ yǒu yí dìng de zuò yòng. Rán ér, sù dù tài màn.) - Written. A report. You are building a case against the method, and the reader can hear it.

Same content, three different social positions. That is what choosing a connective does in Mandarin, and it is why the written set is worth the effort even though you can already say everything with the spoken one.

Common mistakes

1. 然rán而ér (rán ér) in conversation. It is not wrong, it is just loud. A friend telling you about their weekend does not say 然而. Keep 不过 (bù guò) and 但是 (dàn shì) for speech and save 然而 (rán ér) for the page.
2. 于yú是shì (yú shì) for a logical conclusion. 于是 needs an event that follows in time. A general truth or a reasoned inference wants 因此 (yīn cǐ). 'The air is clean, therefore people want to live here' is 因此, not 于是.
3. 因yīn此cǐ (yīn cǐ) in a story. The other direction of the same error. 'He missed the bus, so he walked' is a sequence: 于是 (yú shì). 因此 there makes the walk sound like the conclusion of an argument.
4. Pairing 因yīn为wèi (yīn wèi) with 因yīn此cǐ (yīn cǐ). The standard pair is 因为…所以. The formal pair is 由于…因此. Do not cross them, and do not write 因为…因此.
5. Trailing 由yóu于yú (yóu yú). 由于 only ever heads its clause. If the cause comes second, use 因为 (yīn wèi).
6. Reading 尽jǐn管guǎn (jǐn guǎn) as 'although' every time. In 有问题尽管问我 there is no concession at all. Check the position first: in front of a verb, it means 'feel free to'.
7. Dropping the partner word after 尽jǐn管guǎn (jǐn guǎn). English lets 'although' work alone. Mandarin still wants 但是 (dàn shì), 还是 (hái shì), 仍然 (réng rán) or 然而 (rán ér) picking it up in the second clause.
8. Mixing registers inside one sentence. 尽管…不过 is jarring: a formal concession answered by a casual shrug. Match the halves.

See also

• Conjunctions - the spoken pairings (虽然…但是, 因为…所以, 如果…就) that these formal words replace.
• Concession with 不过 and 还是 - the softer end of the contrast scale, and the two jobs of 还是.
• The 于 family - 对于, 关于, 由于, 至于 and the rest of the relation markers that dominate formal writing.
• Word order - where a clause-initial connective sits relative to the subject and the time phrase.