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This week we looked at the many ways Mandarin says “but.”
Today’s exercises will help you practice picking the one that fits the moment. Each of these words carries a slightly different feeling, and choosing well is what makes a sentence sound like something a person would actually say.
With a bit of practice, the right one will start coming to you without thinking. Let’s go!
Translate these English sentences into Mandarin:
The Suzhou gardens are worth seeing any time of year, it’s just that spring is unbearably crowded.
We’d planned to go see the cherry blossoms together, but she got called in to work, so we had to push it to next week.
I can definitely finish the marathon, though you shouldn’t expect much from my time.
Guilin’s scenery really does live up to its reputation, but going during the rainy season is honestly miserable.
Take your time, and remember: practicing will help you sound more natural and confident in your Mandarin conversations. You’ve got this! 💫
The Suzhou gardens are worth seeing any time of year, it’s just that spring is unbearably crowded.
Sometimes you want to praise a place without taking the praise back. The first job here is “any time of year.” Instead of listing seasons, you can drop a question word into a statement and pair it with 都 (dōu), which turns “when do you go?” into “whenever you go.” The second job is the “but,” and a heavy 但是 (dànshì) would make it sound like the crowds cancel out the gardens. That’s where 只是 (zhǐshì) comes in: it names the one catch and leaves everything you just said standing.
📚 Structure: [Topic] + [Question Word] + [Verb] + 都 + [Comment]，只是 + [The One Catch]
Let’s break down the translation step by step:
苏州 [蘇州] (Sūzhōu) means “Suzhou,” a city near Shanghai known for its classical gardens.
I went to Suzhou in April, listen to my story here:
园林 [園林] (yuánlín) means “classical gardens.”
园 [園] (yuán) means “garden.”
林 (lín) means “grove” or “woods.”
什么 [什麼] (shénme) normally means “what.”
时候 [時候] (shíhou) means “time” or “moment.”
Together, 什么时候 [什麼時候] (shénme shíhou) usually asks “when,” but paired with 都 it stops asking and covers every case: “whenever.”
📖 Learn more about question words used in statements in CGG #49.
去 (qù) means “to go.”
都 (dōu) means “all,” here closer to “in every case.”
好看 (hǎokàn) means “nice to look at.”
只是 (zhǐshì) means “it’s just that.”
It introduces one limitation without withdrawing the compliment.
春天 (chūntiān) means “spring.”
人 (rén) means “people.”
实在 [實在] (shízài) means “really” or “honestly,” with a note of exasperation.
太 (tài) means “too.”
多 (duō) means “many.”
了 (le) closes the 太…了 frame.
📖 Learn more about 太…了 and other ways to express intensity in CGG #65.
Don’t use 但是 (dànshì) here. It would push the crowds forward as the real point and make the praise sound like a setup.
都 cannot be dropped. Without it, 什么时候 [什麼時候] goes back to being a question and the sentence reads as “when do you go?”
太 almost always needs its 了 at the end of the clause. 太多 on its own sounds unfinished in speech.
苏州园林什么时候去都好看，只是春天人实在太多了。
蘇州園林什麼時候去都好看，只是春天人實在太多了。
苏州 / 园林 / 什么 / 时候 / 去 / 都 / 好看 / ，/ 只是 / 春天 / 人 / 实在 / 太 / 多 / 了 / 。
Sūzhōu yuánlín shénme shíhou qù dōu hǎokàn, zhǐshì chūntiān rén shízài tài duō le.
The Suzhou gardens are worth seeing any time of year, it’s just that spring is unbearably crowded.
Suzhou / gardens / what / time / go / all / nice to look at / it’s just that / spring / people / really / too / many / (particle 了).
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We’d planned to go see the cherry blossoms together, but she got called in to work, so we had to push it to next week.
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