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How to say “not only… even…” in Chinese with 不但…甚至连

不但 (búdàn) + Clause 1, 甚至 (shènzhì) + 连 (lián) + Noun + 都 (dōu)/也 (yě) + Verb

不但 (bù dàn)…甚至连 (shèn zhì lián) — not only… even…

HSK 5Sentence Patterns

Rule structure

不但 (bùdàn)…甚至连 (shènzhì lián)… is an emphatic progression: "not only… but even…". It uses 甚至 (shènzhì) to escalate and 连 (lián)…都 (dōu)/也 (yě) to highlight the extreme case.

Examples

他不但没道歉，甚至连电话都不接。

Tā bùdàn méi dàoqiàn, shènzhì lián diànhuà dōu bù jiē.

Not only did he not apologize, but he doesn’t even answer the phone.

Practice

Build the sentence

Drag the characters to put them in the correct order

Characters

Words from this rule

不

bù

No, not

但

dàn

But

甚至

shènzhì

Even, so much as

连

lián

To connect, even

都

dōu

All, both

也

yě

Also, too

他

tā

He

道歉

dàoqiàn

To apologize

电话

diàn huà

Telephone; phone call

接

jiē

To meet, to pick up

Frequently asked questions

How do you say “not only… even…” in Chinese with 不但…甚至连?

Use the structure: 不但 (búdàn) + Clause 1, 甚至 (shènzhì) + 连 (lián) + Noun + 都 (dōu)/也 (yě) + Verb. For example: 他不但没道歉，甚至连电话都不接。 — “Not only did he not apologize, but he doesn’t even answer the phone”.

What is an example sentence with this grammar rule?

他不但没道歉，甚至连电话都不接。 — “Not only did he not apologize, but he doesn’t even answer the phone”.

Which HSK level includes this grammar rule?

This grammar rule is part of HSK 5.

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More HSK 5 grammar rules

有关的 — related to…

跟 (gēn) / 和 (hé) / 与 (yǔ) + Noun + 有关的 (yǒuguān de) + Noun

所 — so-called

所谓 (suǒwèi) + Noun Phrase

一面 — simultaneous actions

一面 (yímiàn) + Verb 1, 一面 (yímiàn) + Verb 2

等于 — equal to

A + 等于 (děngyú) + B

更不用说 — let alone

⋯⋯，更不用说 (gèng bùyòng shuō)⋯⋯

而已 — that's all

Clause + 而已 (éryǐ)

别说 — let alone

别说 (biéshuō)⋯⋯，就是 (jiùshì)⋯⋯

难怪 — no wonder

Reason，怪不得 (guàibude) / 难怪 (nánguài) + Observation