HSK 6 Connectors & compound sentences
连 … 带 …
Both… and… / along with (连…带…)
Structure 连 + A + 带 + B (A and B = bundled actions or things)
连…带… (lián… dài…) bundles two actions or things that happen together or at once. With verbs it describes simultaneous actions: 他连说带笑地讲完了 = "he told the whole thing talking and laughing at once". With nouns it lumps amounts together: 连本带利 = "principal and interest together". Don't confuse it with 连…都/也 (HSK 4), which is emphatic ("not even"); here 连…带… isn't emphatic, it just groups "this and that at once".
Examples
- 他连说带笑地把事情讲完了。
He finished telling it all talking and laughing at the same time.
- 借的钱得连本带利还清。
The borrowed money must be paid back, principal and interest alike.
- 孩子连哭带闹,折腾了一整夜。
The child, crying and fussing all at once, carried on the whole night.
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.