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HSK 6 Adverbs

不外乎 / 无外乎

Nothing more than / boils down to (不外乎)

Structure reason/method + 不外乎 + the essential list

不外乎 (búwàihū), and its variant 无外乎 (wúwàihū), says that something "does not go beyond" a small set of options: "is nothing more than…", "boils down to…". It closes a list of causes or types at the essentials: 原因不外乎这几点 = "the reasons come down to just these few points". It belongs to analysis and essay writing, in formal register. Unlike 无非, which reduces with a dismissive tone, 不外乎 coolly narrows down the range of what is possible.

Examples

  • shībàideyuányīnwàizhèdiǎn

    The reasons for the failure boil down to just these few points.

  • menguānxīndewàimíng

    What they care about is nothing more than fame and gain.

  • jiějuédebànwàikāiyuánjiéliú

    The solutions come down to raising income and cutting spending.

  • lùnzěnmeshuōwàishìqiándewèn

    Say what you will, in the end it boils down to a matter of money.

Levels are indicative: they follow the standard Chinese Grammar Wiki (AllSet Learning) progression, not an official HSK 3.0 mapping. We never assign levels by eye.

This point and the other 370, with audio on every example, inside Wanyu.

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