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而是

érshì
conjunction HSK 4 #1,359

Meanings

  1. 1 but rather; but instead

Examples

他不是老师，而是学生。
Tā bú shì lǎoshī, ér shì xuéshēng.
He is not a teacher, but rather a student.
问题不是钱，而是时间。
Wèntí bú shì qián, ér shì shíjiān.
The problem is not money, but rather time.
我不是不想去，而是没有时间。
Wǒ bú shì bù xiǎng qù, ér shì méiyǒu shíjiān.
It's not that I don't want to go, but rather that I don't have time.

Tips

grammar
而是 always pairs with 不是: 不是A，而是B = not A, but rather B. This is one of the most important contrast patterns in Chinese.

Stroke Order

而 ér
是 shì