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HSK 6 Connectors & compound sentences

不但不 / 非但 … 反而 / 反倒 …

Far from…, on the contrary… (不但不/非但…反而)

Structure 不但不/非但(没) + expected action,反而/反倒 + the opposite

不但不…反而… / 非但…反而… chains two clauses to say that not only did the expected thing NOT happen, but the opposite did: 他不但不道歉,反而怪起别人来 = "far from apologizing, he even blamed others". The adverb 反而 already appears alone in HSK 4; what's advanced here is the full frame with 不但不 (for a willed action) or 不但没 (for a settled fact), and above all with 非但, its written, emphatic variant. 反倒 (fǎndào) is a more colloquial synonym of 反而.

Examples

  • dàndàoqiànfǎnérguàibiérénlái

    Far from apologizing, he even started blaming others.

  • píngfēidànméifǎnérle

    The criticism, far from crushing him, spurred him on.

  • jiàngjiàfēidànméinéngxiāofǎndàorànglexīn

    The price cut, far from boosting sales, made customers suspicious instead.

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