Progressive and Additive Compound Sentences
不但不…反而… = 'not only not X, but on the contrary Y' — an adversative-progressive: the expected negative outcome is reversed into something surprising. 反而 (on the contrary) marks the reversal.
不是…还是… (rhetorical): '(If) this isn't A, then what is it?' — a rhetorical question that presses a point by eliminating alternatives, implying certainty that it IS A. Often ends with 还是什么.
连…也/都…更… = escalation: 'even X (extreme case) Y-s, so Z even more so'. States an extreme example with 连…也/都…, then escalates further with 更 (or 就更不用说了 = 'goes without saying'). Common in persuasive/argumentative writing.
Worked examples
| Chinese | Pinyin | English | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| 他不但没有生气，反而笑了。 | Tā bú dàn méi yǒu shēng qì, fǎn ér xiào le. | Not only did he not get angry — on the contrary, he laughed. | Minimal 不但不/没…反而… frame: expected anger reversed into laughter |
| 面对批评，她不但不辩解，反而虚心接受。 | Miàn duì pī píng, tā bú dàn bú biàn jiě, fǎn ér xū xīn jiē shòu. | Facing criticism, she not only didn't argue back — on the contrary, she accepted it humbly. | Same pattern with a fuller context clause (面对批评) before the reversal |
| 这么晚还在工作，这不是辛苦，还是什么？ | Zhè me wǎn hái zài gōng zuò, zhè bú shì xīn kǔ, hái shì shén me? | Still working this late — if this isn't hard work, then what is? | New pattern: 不是…还是… rhetorical question reinforcing an obvious claim |
| 连三岁的孩子都知道要说谢谢，我们大人更应该懂礼貌。 | Lián sān suì de hái zi dōu zhī dào yào shuō xiè xie, wǒ men dà rén gèng yīng gāi dǒng lǐ mào. | Even a three-year-old knows to say thank you — we adults should understand manners even more. | New pattern: 连…都…更… — an extreme example escalated to a stronger conclusion |
| 连专家也解决不了这个难题，普通人就更不用说了。 | Lián zhuān jiā yě jiě jué bù liǎo zhè gè nán tí, pǔ tōng rén jiù gèng bú yòng shuō le. | Even experts can't solve this problem — it goes without saying that ordinary people can't either. | 连…也… variant (也 instead of 都) paired with the escalation phrase 就更不用说了 |
What you need first
Every topic in GraphChinese names its own prerequisites, and these are the grammar points this one is built on. If a sentence here will not parse, one of them is why.
What this opens up
These patterns list Progressive and Additive Compound Sentences among their own prerequisites, so they become readable once this one holds.
Progressive and Additive Compound Sentences is one topic of 829. GraphChinese teaches them in prerequisite order, so this pattern reaches you on the day everything it rests on is proven. The whole course, HSK 0 through HSK 6, is $49 once for lifetime access.
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