而非

érfēi

conjunction #17,219

Meanings

1 rather than
2 and not
3 instead of

Characters

Examples

我们需要的是行动而非空谈。

Wǒmen xūyào de shì xíngdòng érfēi kōngtán.

What we need is action, not empty talk.

这是事实而非猜测。

Zhè shì shìshí érfēi cāicè.

This is fact, not speculation.

Tips

register

而非 is literary/formal. In everyday speech, 而不是 (ér bù shì) is more common. 而非 appears frequently in written Chinese, journalism, and academic texts.

Stroke Order

而 ér

非 fēi