But in Different Languages
Discover 'But' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
But
Afrikaans maar | ||
Albanian por | ||
Amharic ግን | ||
Arabic لكن | ||
Armenian բայց | ||
Assamese কিন্তু | ||
Aymara ukampinsa | ||
Azerbaijani amma | ||
Bambara nka | ||
Basque baina | ||
Belarusian але | ||
Bengali কিন্তু | ||
Bhojpuri लेकिन | ||
Bosnian ali | ||
Bulgarian но | ||
Catalan però | ||
Cebuano apan | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 但 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 但 | ||
Corsican ma | ||
Croatian ali | ||
Czech ale | ||
Danish men | ||
Dhivehi އެކަމަކު | ||
Dogri पर | ||
Dutch maar | ||
English but | ||
Esperanto sed | ||
Estonian aga | ||
Ewe gake | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) ngunit | ||
Finnish mutta | ||
French mais | ||
Frisian mar | ||
Galician pero | ||
Georgian მაგრამ | ||
German aber | ||
Greek αλλά | ||
Guarani hakatu | ||
Gujarati પરંતુ | ||
Haitian Creole men | ||
Hausa amma | ||
Hawaiian akā | ||
Hebrew אבל | ||
Hindi परंतु | ||
Hmong tab sis | ||
Hungarian de | ||
Icelandic en | ||
Igbo mana | ||
Ilocano ngem | ||
Indonesian tapi | ||
Irish ach | ||
Italian ma | ||
Japanese だが | ||
Javanese nanging | ||
Kannada ಆದರೆ | ||
Kazakh бірақ | ||
Khmer ប៉ុន្តែ | ||
Kinyarwanda ariko | ||
Konkani पूण | ||
Korean 그러나 | ||
Krio bɔt | ||
Kurdish lebê | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) بەڵام | ||
Kyrgyz бирок | ||
Lao ແຕ່ວ່າ | ||
Latin autem | ||
Latvian bet | ||
Lingala kasi | ||
Lithuanian bet | ||
Luganda naye | ||
Luxembourgish awer | ||
Macedonian но | ||
Maithili मुदा | ||
Malagasy saingy | ||
Malay tetapi | ||
Malayalam പക്ഷേ | ||
Maltese iżda | ||
Maori engari | ||
Marathi परंतु | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯑꯗꯨꯕꯨ | ||
Mizo mahse | ||
Mongolian гэхдээ | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ဒါပေမယ့် | ||
Nepali तर | ||
Norwegian men | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) koma | ||
Odia (Oriya) କିନ୍ତୁ | ||
Oromo garuu | ||
Pashto مګر | ||
Persian ولی | ||
Polish ale | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) mas | ||
Punjabi ਪਰ | ||
Quechua ichaqa | ||
Romanian dar | ||
Russian но | ||
Samoan ae | ||
Sanskrit किन्तु | ||
Scots Gaelic ach | ||
Sepedi eupša | ||
Serbian али | ||
Sesotho empa | ||
Shona asi | ||
Sindhi پر | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) එහෙත් | ||
Slovak ale | ||
Slovenian ampak | ||
Somali laakiin | ||
Spanish pero | ||
Sundanese tapi | ||
Swahili lakini | ||
Swedish men | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) pero | ||
Tajik аммо | ||
Tamil ஆனால் | ||
Tatar ләкин | ||
Telugu కానీ | ||
Thai แต่ | ||
Tigrinya ግን | ||
Tsonga kambe | ||
Turkish fakat | ||
Turkmen emma | ||
Twi (Akan) nanso | ||
Ukrainian але | ||
Urdu لیکن | ||
Uyghur ئەمما | ||
Uzbek lekin | ||
Vietnamese nhưng | ||
Welsh ond | ||
Xhosa kodwa | ||
Yiddish אָבער | ||
Yoruba ṣugbọn | ||
Zulu kodwa |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Maar can also be used as a substitute for the word 'maar' in Dutch, meaning 'only', 'just' or 'merely' |
| Albanian | Albanian "por" also means "for" "although," "even," "however." |
| Amharic | The Amharic word "ግን" can also mean "however" or "yet." |
| Arabic | The word "لكن" can also mean "nevertheless" or "however" in Arabic. |
| Armenian | "Բայց" (but) derives from the Iranian word "patiš," meaning "against" or "back". |
| Azerbaijani | In Turkish, the word “amma” means “yet”. |
| Basque | The Basque word “baina” originated from the Latin word “verum,” meaning “true.” |
| Belarusian | In Belarusian, the word "але" (ale) has cognates across Slavic languages and is thought to have come from the Proto-Slavic word "*olь" meaning "indeed". |
| Bengali | "কিন্তু" is the Bengali equivalent of the English word "but," but can also mean "rather," "on the other hand," or "notwithstanding." |
| Bosnian | "Ali" also means "indeed" or "however" in some Bosnian dialects. |
| Bulgarian | The Bulgarian word "но" is a borrowing from the Proto-Slavic "nъ", which means "and". The meaning of "but" in Bulgarian is a later development. |
| Catalan | Catalan "però" and Italian "però" both derive from the Latin "per hoc," meaning "through this." However, unlike its Italian counterpart, "però" in Catalan also means "therefore" or "consequently." |
| Cebuano | From the Spanish "pero" or "pero si" |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 但 in the beginning of a sentence can mean 'only', 'just', or 'merely' |
| Chinese (Traditional) | In addition to its common usage as "but," the Chinese character 但 (dàn) can also mean "only" or "merely." |
| Corsican | The Corsican word "ma" is derived from the Latin "magis", meaning "more" or "rather". |
| Croatian | The word "ali" can also mean "or" or "although" in Croatian. |
| Czech | Czech “ale” is etymologically related to English “else” and German “aller” and means “something different, another thing”. |
| Danish | The Danish word 'men' can also mean 'however' and 'still' |
| Dutch | The word 'maar' can also be used to express surprise, disappointment, or annoyance. |
| Esperanto | The Esperanto word "sed" is derived from the Latin word "sed", but it also has other meanings, such as "however" and "instead". |
| Estonian | "Aga" can also mean "at least" and "however". |
| Finnish | The word "mutta" in Finnish can also mean "but again" or "however". |
| French | Mais derives from the conjunction 'magis', which shares a root with the English 'more', and can be used in French to mean 'more' (amongst other meanings). |
| Frisian | The word "mar" in Frisian also means "lake". |
| Galician | In Galician, "pero" can also mean "pear" or "dog" and is cognate with the Latin "pirum" and the Portuguese "péro". |
| German | In addition to its main meaning of "but", "aber" can also mean "however" or "although" in German. |
| Greek | The Greek word "αλλά" does not just mean "but", it can also mean "on the contrary" or "however." |
| Gujarati | The Gujarati word “પરંતુ” can also mean “moreover,” “therefore,” “however,” or “on the other hand.” |
| Haitian Creole | The Haitian Creole word "men" is derived from the French "mais" and can also mean "although" or "however." |
| Hausa | In Hausa, "amma" also means "or" and "rather." |
| Hawaiian | The word "akā" in Hawaiian can also mean "yet" or "in spite of". |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word "אבל" means "but" when it connects two phrases, and "however" when it connects two words. |
| Hindi | The word 'परंतु' is derived from 'पर' ('beyond') and 'अन्त' ('end'), thus meaning 'beyond the limit' or 'except'. |
| Hmong | The Hmong word "tab sis" can also refer to "because", "if", or "therefore" depending on context |
| Hungarian | The Hungarian word "de" also means "and", "so" or "because", depending on the context. |
| Icelandic | The word "en" can also mean "even" or "still" in Icelandic. |
| Igbo | The Igbo word 'mana' can also mean 'so that' or 'in order to'. |
| Indonesian | The word "tapi" is also used as an adverb meaning "yet" |
| Irish | In addition to its primary meaning of "but," the word "ach" in Irish can also mean "but now," "but rather," or "how else." |
| Italian | The Italian word "ma" (but) derives from the Latin "magis" (more) and means "however" as an alternative meaning. |
| Japanese | "だが" can also be read as "dakara" which is more commonly used in informal speech, and means "so" or "therefore" |
| Javanese | The word "nanging" can also mean "yet" or "however" in Javanese. |
| Kannada | The Kannada word "ಆದರೆ" can also be used to represent addition, emphasis, response, objection, conclusion, doubt, wonder, contradiction, or concession |
| Kazakh | The Kazakh word “бірақ” is cognate with the Mongolian word “бираа” which means “gap” |
| Khmer | The word "ប៉ុន្តែ" also means "however" and can be used as an adversative to signal a different perspective or opinion. |
| Korean | The word "그러나" in Korean can also mean "however" or "although" in some contexts. |
| Kurdish | The word "lebê" is derived from the Persian word "labēh" meaning "however" |
| Kyrgyz | The word "бирок" in Kyrgyz can also mean "however" or "although". |
| Lao | The Lao word ແຕ່ວ່າ "but" comes from the Sanskrit word "api", meaning "and". This is similar to the English use of "but" with the meaning "and yet". |
| Latin | Autem is the Latin word for "but," but it may also appear without an explicit conjunction, as a parenthetical aside, or in the sense of "now," "again" or "however," with the implication that "but" may be understood. |
| Latvian | The word "bet" in Latvian can also mean "indeed" or "surely". |
| Lithuanian | The word bet can also mean to flood or dam in Lithuanian |
| Luxembourgish | The word "awer" in Luxembourgish can also mean "however" or "on the other hand". |
| Macedonian | Although its most common meaning is that of conjunction 'but', 'но' can also be used as an interjection to express surprise, disappointment or anger. |
| Malagasy | SAINGY, in Malagasy, can also mean "except" or "however" depending on the context. |
| Malay | In Old Malay, "tetapi" originally meant "however" or "although" and was not commonly used as a conjunction. |
| Malayalam | The word "പക്ഷേ" can also mean "however" or "on the other hand" in Malayalam. |
| Maltese | The Maltese word "iżda" ("but") is derived from the Arabic word " إذًا" (idhā), meaning "then" or "therefore". |
| Maori | Engari has other meanings: nevertheless, moreover, further, besides, indeed, also, well. |
| Marathi | परंतु can also mean in Marathi "in order to" or "with the condition". |
| Mongolian | The word "гэхдээ" in Mongolian can also mean "however" or "nevertheless." |
| Nepali | Nepali: तर "tar" is derived from Sanskrit "tara" meaning a "but" or an "if". |
| Norwegian | The word 'men' in Norwegian can also mean 'one' or 'they' depending on context. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | Koma as a noun means “a comma". |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "مګر" can also mean "if". |
| Persian | The Persian word "ولی" means "but" as a conjunction but also means "guardian" or "protector". |
| Polish | The word "ale" in Polish can also mean "alas" or "unfortunately". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | In Portuguese, "mas" can also mean "more" or "however". |
| Punjabi | The word "ਪਰ" (par) in Punjabi can also mean "and" or "however". |
| Romanian | The Romanian word "dar" has Indo-European origins and is related to the English word "door" and the Iranian word "darvazah". |
| Russian | The word "но" (but) in Russian can also mean "however" or "nevertheless". |
| Samoan | The word "ae" in Samoan has no direct cognates in English; it is used to introduce a counterargument or contrast. |
| Scots Gaelic | Scots Gaelic "ach" also means "well now" and is semantically similar to English "actually". |
| Serbian | The word "али" in Serbian also means "anyway" or "however" in the sense of "in spite of". |
| Sesotho | The Sesotho word "empa" is derived from the verb "ho empa" meaning "to seize" or "to catch". |
| Shona | The Shona word 'asi' can also mean 'therefore' or 'so', and is often used as an adversative conjunction to join two contrasting ideas. |
| Sindhi | The word "پر" (par) in Sindhi can also be used to mean "however" and "despite". |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The word එහෙත් is derived from the Sanskrit word 'atha', meaning 'now', 'then', or 'further'. |
| Slovak | "Ale" in Slovak is borrowed from Czech and can also mean "however" or "yet". |
| Slovenian | The word 'ampak' is derived from the Proto-Slavic word '*ampā?', meaning 'but, however' |
| Somali | "Laakiin" is a Somali word that also means 'except', 'unless' or 'however'. |
| Spanish | 'Pero' is related to 'pair', meaning one more thing. |
| Sundanese | In Cirebonese varieties of Sundanese, "tapi" can also mean "then" or "so". |
| Swahili | Lakini is also used to mean 'however', 'on the other hand', 'nevertheless', and 'in spite of'. |
| Swedish | Swedish "men" may also mean "many". |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The word "pero" in Tagalog can also mean "however" or "although". |
| Tajik | The word "аммо" also means "oh" or "wow" in Tajik. |
| Tamil | Etymology is unclear, but one theory suggests a derivation from the Tamil word "ānai" |
| Telugu | "కానీ" can also mean "however, yet, nevertheless". |
| Thai | "แต่" can be used as an alternative to "หรือ" (or). |
| Turkish | The word "fakat" in Turkish, derived from Arabic "fa-qat"," means "only" or "just" and is often used to introduce a contrast or clarification. |
| Ukrainian | The Ukrainian word "але" derives from the Proto-Slavic conjunction "ali", meaning "or, if not". |
| Urdu | The archaic root of the word “lekin” is the Sanskrit verb “riñchati” ( |
| Uzbek | The word “lekin” is also used to denote contradiction and contrast and in the sense of “however” or “although” in formal speech and writing. |
| Vietnamese | "Nhưng" is used in pairs with other words to mean "both... and..." |
| Welsh | In Middle Welsh, it was sometimes used as the equivalent of "ondod", an obsolete variant of "hydod", which means "maybe". |
| Xhosa | "Kodwa" can be used to express a concession, or as an interjection indicating annoyance. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "אָבער" also functions as a discourse particle to signal a new idea or shift in topic. |
| Yoruba | The word ṣugbọn can also mean 'however' or 'on the other hand' in Yoruba. |
| Zulu | In Zulu, 'kodwa' is also a noun that refers to a small antelope or duiker. |
| English | The word 'but' can also be used to emphasize or contrast a thought, e.g., 'She is kind, but a bit shy'. |