But in Different Languages
Discover 'But' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'but' is a small, seemingly simple conjunction that carries a significant weight in the English language. It's used to introduce a contrasting point, creating a balance in sentences and discourse. This humble word plays a crucial role in our daily communication, enabling us to express complex ideas and nuanced thoughts.
Beyond its linguistic significance, 'but' also holds cultural importance. It's often used in popular idioms, proverbs, and phrases, reflecting our societal values and norms. For instance, the phrase 'Jack of all trades, master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one' showcases the word's ability to introduce a contrast and add depth to our language.
Given its importance, one might be interested in knowing the translations of 'but' in different languages. This knowledge not only aids in cross-cultural communication but also offers insights into how other cultures express contrasting ideas.
For instance, in Spanish, 'but' translates to 'pero'. In French, it's 'mais', and in German, it's 'aber'. These translations not only reflect linguistic differences but also cultural nuances, offering a fascinating glimpse into the way different cultures think and communicate.
But
But in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | maar | ||
| Maar can also be used as a substitute for the word 'maar' in Dutch, meaning 'only', 'just' or 'merely' | |||
| Amharic | ግን | ||
| The Amharic word "ግን" can also mean "however" or "yet." | |||
| Hausa | amma | ||
| In Hausa, "amma" also means "or" and "rather." | |||
| Igbo | mana | ||
| The Igbo word 'mana' can also mean 'so that' or 'in order to'. | |||
| Malagasy | saingy | ||
| SAINGY, in Malagasy, can also mean "except" or "however" depending on the context. | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | koma | ||
| Koma as a noun means “a comma". | |||
| Shona | asi | ||
| The Shona word 'asi' can also mean 'therefore' or 'so', and is often used as an adversative conjunction to join two contrasting ideas. | |||
| Somali | laakiin | ||
| "Laakiin" is a Somali word that also means 'except', 'unless' or 'however'. | |||
| Sesotho | empa | ||
| The Sesotho word "empa" is derived from the verb "ho empa" meaning "to seize" or "to catch". | |||
| Swahili | lakini | ||
| Lakini is also used to mean 'however', 'on the other hand', 'nevertheless', and 'in spite of'. | |||
| Xhosa | kodwa | ||
| "Kodwa" can be used to express a concession, or as an interjection indicating annoyance. | |||
| Yoruba | ṣugbọn | ||
| The word ṣugbọn can also mean 'however' or 'on the other hand' in Yoruba. | |||
| Zulu | kodwa | ||
| In Zulu, 'kodwa' is also a noun that refers to a small antelope or duiker. | |||
| Bambara | nka | ||
| Ewe | gake | ||
| Kinyarwanda | ariko | ||
| Lingala | kasi | ||
| Luganda | naye | ||
| Sepedi | eupša | ||
| Twi (Akan) | nanso | ||
But in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | لكن | ||
| The word "لكن" can also mean "nevertheless" or "however" in Arabic. | |||
| Hebrew | אבל | ||
| The Hebrew word "אבל" means "but" when it connects two phrases, and "however" when it connects two words. | |||
| Pashto | مګر | ||
| The Pashto word "مګر" can also mean "if". | |||
| Arabic | لكن | ||
| The word "لكن" can also mean "nevertheless" or "however" in Arabic. | |||
But in Western European Languages
| Albanian | por | ||
| Albanian "por" also means "for" "although," "even," "however." | |||
| Basque | baina | ||
| The Basque word “baina” originated from the Latin word “verum,” meaning “true.” | |||
| Catalan | però | ||
| 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." | |||
| Croatian | ali | ||
| The word "ali" can also mean "or" or "although" in Croatian. | |||
| Danish | men | ||
| The Danish word 'men' can also mean 'however' and 'still' | |||
| Dutch | maar | ||
| The word 'maar' can also be used to express surprise, disappointment, or annoyance. | |||
| English | but | ||
| The word 'but' can also be used to emphasize or contrast a thought, e.g., 'She is kind, but a bit shy'. | |||
| French | mais | ||
| 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 | mar | ||
| The word "mar" in Frisian also means "lake". | |||
| Galician | pero | ||
| In Galician, "pero" can also mean "pear" or "dog" and is cognate with the Latin "pirum" and the Portuguese "péro". | |||
| German | aber | ||
| In addition to its main meaning of "but", "aber" can also mean "however" or "although" in German. | |||
| Icelandic | en | ||
| The word "en" can also mean "even" or "still" in Icelandic. | |||
| Irish | ach | ||
| In addition to its primary meaning of "but," the word "ach" in Irish can also mean "but now," "but rather," or "how else." | |||
| Italian | ma | ||
| The Italian word "ma" (but) derives from the Latin "magis" (more) and means "however" as an alternative meaning. | |||
| Luxembourgish | awer | ||
| The word "awer" in Luxembourgish can also mean "however" or "on the other hand". | |||
| Maltese | iżda | ||
| The Maltese word "iżda" ("but") is derived from the Arabic word " إذًا" (idhā), meaning "then" or "therefore". | |||
| Norwegian | men | ||
| The word 'men' in Norwegian can also mean 'one' or 'they' depending on context. | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | mas | ||
| In Portuguese, "mas" can also mean "more" or "however". | |||
| Scots Gaelic | ach | ||
| Scots Gaelic "ach" also means "well now" and is semantically similar to English "actually". | |||
| Spanish | pero | ||
| 'Pero' is related to 'pair', meaning one more thing. | |||
| Swedish | men | ||
| Swedish "men" may also mean "many". | |||
| Welsh | ond | ||
| In Middle Welsh, it was sometimes used as the equivalent of "ondod", an obsolete variant of "hydod", which means "maybe". | |||
But in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | але | ||
| 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". | |||
| Bosnian | ali | ||
| "Ali" also means "indeed" or "however" in some Bosnian dialects. | |||
| Bulgarian | но | ||
| 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. | |||
| Czech | ale | ||
| Czech “ale” is etymologically related to English “else” and German “aller” and means “something different, another thing”. | |||
| Estonian | aga | ||
| "Aga" can also mean "at least" and "however". | |||
| Finnish | mutta | ||
| The word "mutta" in Finnish can also mean "but again" or "however". | |||
| Hungarian | de | ||
| The Hungarian word "de" also means "and", "so" or "because", depending on the context. | |||
| Latvian | bet | ||
| The word "bet" in Latvian can also mean "indeed" or "surely". | |||
| Lithuanian | bet | ||
| The word bet can also mean to flood or dam in Lithuanian | |||
| Macedonian | но | ||
| Although its most common meaning is that of conjunction 'but', 'но' can also be used as an interjection to express surprise, disappointment or anger. | |||
| Polish | ale | ||
| The word "ale" in Polish can also mean "alas" or "unfortunately". | |||
| Romanian | dar | ||
| The Romanian word "dar" has Indo-European origins and is related to the English word "door" and the Iranian word "darvazah". | |||
| Russian | но | ||
| The word "но" (but) in Russian can also mean "however" or "nevertheless". | |||
| Serbian | али | ||
| The word "али" in Serbian also means "anyway" or "however" in the sense of "in spite of". | |||
| Slovak | ale | ||
| "Ale" in Slovak is borrowed from Czech and can also mean "however" or "yet". | |||
| Slovenian | ampak | ||
| The word 'ampak' is derived from the Proto-Slavic word '*ampā?', meaning 'but, however' | |||
| Ukrainian | але | ||
| The Ukrainian word "але" derives from the Proto-Slavic conjunction "ali", meaning "or, if not". | |||
But in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | কিন্তু | ||
| "কিন্তু" is the Bengali equivalent of the English word "but," but can also mean "rather," "on the other hand," or "notwithstanding." | |||
| Gujarati | પરંતુ | ||
| The Gujarati word “પરંતુ” can also mean “moreover,” “therefore,” “however,” or “on the other hand.” | |||
| Hindi | परंतु | ||
| The word 'परंतु' is derived from 'पर' ('beyond') and 'अन्त' ('end'), thus meaning 'beyond the limit' or 'except'. | |||
| Kannada | ಆದರೆ | ||
| The Kannada word "ಆದರೆ" can also be used to represent addition, emphasis, response, objection, conclusion, doubt, wonder, contradiction, or concession | |||
| Malayalam | പക്ഷേ | ||
| The word "പക്ഷേ" can also mean "however" or "on the other hand" in Malayalam. | |||
| Marathi | परंतु | ||
| परंतु can also mean in Marathi "in order to" or "with the condition". | |||
| Nepali | तर | ||
| Nepali: तर "tar" is derived from Sanskrit "tara" meaning a "but" or an "if". | |||
| Punjabi | ਪਰ | ||
| The word "ਪਰ" (par) in Punjabi can also mean "and" or "however". | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | එහෙත් | ||
| The word එහෙත් is derived from the Sanskrit word 'atha', meaning 'now', 'then', or 'further'. | |||
| Tamil | ஆனால் | ||
| Etymology is unclear, but one theory suggests a derivation from the Tamil word "ānai" | |||
| Telugu | కానీ | ||
| "కానీ" can also mean "however, yet, nevertheless". | |||
| Urdu | لیکن | ||
| The archaic root of the word “lekin” is the Sanskrit verb “riñchati” ( | |||
But in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 但 | ||
| 但 in the beginning of a sentence can mean 'only', 'just', or 'merely' | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 但 | ||
| In addition to its common usage as "but," the Chinese character 但 (dàn) can also mean "only" or "merely." | |||
| Japanese | だが | ||
| "だが" can also be read as "dakara" which is more commonly used in informal speech, and means "so" or "therefore" | |||
| Korean | 그러나 | ||
| The word "그러나" in Korean can also mean "however" or "although" in some contexts. | |||
| Mongolian | гэхдээ | ||
| The word "гэхдээ" in Mongolian can also mean "however" or "nevertheless." | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ဒါပေမယ့် | ||
But in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | tapi | ||
| The word "tapi" is also used as an adverb meaning "yet" | |||
| Javanese | nanging | ||
| The word "nanging" can also mean "yet" or "however" in Javanese. | |||
| Khmer | ប៉ុន្តែ | ||
| The word "ប៉ុន្តែ" also means "however" and can be used as an adversative to signal a different perspective or opinion. | |||
| Lao | ແຕ່ວ່າ | ||
| 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". | |||
| Malay | tetapi | ||
| In Old Malay, "tetapi" originally meant "however" or "although" and was not commonly used as a conjunction. | |||
| Thai | แต่ | ||
| "แต่" can be used as an alternative to "หรือ" (or). | |||
| Vietnamese | nhưng | ||
| "Nhưng" is used in pairs with other words to mean "both... and..." | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | ngunit | ||
But in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | amma | ||
| In Turkish, the word “amma” means “yet”. | |||
| Kazakh | бірақ | ||
| The Kazakh word “бірақ” is cognate with the Mongolian word “бираа” which means “gap” | |||
| Kyrgyz | бирок | ||
| The word "бирок" in Kyrgyz can also mean "however" or "although". | |||
| Tajik | аммо | ||
| The word "аммо" also means "oh" or "wow" in Tajik. | |||
| Turkmen | emma | ||
| Uzbek | lekin | ||
| The word “lekin” is also used to denote contradiction and contrast and in the sense of “however” or “although” in formal speech and writing. | |||
| Uyghur | ئەمما | ||
But in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | akā | ||
| The word "akā" in Hawaiian can also mean "yet" or "in spite of". | |||
| Maori | engari | ||
| Engari has other meanings: nevertheless, moreover, further, besides, indeed, also, well. | |||
| Samoan | ae | ||
| The word "ae" in Samoan has no direct cognates in English; it is used to introduce a counterargument or contrast. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | pero | ||
| The word "pero" in Tagalog can also mean "however" or "although". | |||
But in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | ukampinsa | ||
| Guarani | hakatu | ||
But in International Languages
| Esperanto | sed | ||
| The Esperanto word "sed" is derived from the Latin word "sed", but it also has other meanings, such as "however" and "instead". | |||
| Latin | autem | ||
| 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. | |||
But in Others Languages
| Greek | αλλά | ||
| The Greek word "αλλά" does not just mean "but", it can also mean "on the contrary" or "however." | |||
| Hmong | tab sis | ||
| The Hmong word "tab sis" can also refer to "because", "if", or "therefore" depending on context | |||
| Kurdish | lebê | ||
| The word "lebê" is derived from the Persian word "labēh" meaning "however" | |||
| Turkish | fakat | ||
| The word "fakat" in Turkish, derived from Arabic "fa-qat"," means "only" or "just" and is often used to introduce a contrast or clarification. | |||
| Xhosa | kodwa | ||
| "Kodwa" can be used to express a concession, or as an interjection indicating annoyance. | |||
| Yiddish | אָבער | ||
| The Yiddish word "אָבער" also functions as a discourse particle to signal a new idea or shift in topic. | |||
| Zulu | kodwa | ||
| In Zulu, 'kodwa' is also a noun that refers to a small antelope or duiker. | |||
| Assamese | কিন্তু | ||
| Aymara | ukampinsa | ||
| Bhojpuri | लेकिन | ||
| Dhivehi | އެކަމަކު | ||
| Dogri | पर | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | ngunit | ||
| Guarani | hakatu | ||
| Ilocano | ngem | ||
| Krio | bɔt | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | بەڵام | ||
| Maithili | मुदा | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯑꯗꯨꯕꯨ | ||
| Mizo | mahse | ||
| Oromo | garuu | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | କିନ୍ତୁ | ||
| Quechua | ichaqa | ||
| Sanskrit | किन्तु | ||
| Tatar | ләкин | ||
| Tigrinya | ግን | ||
| Tsonga | kambe | ||