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Mythic Mandarin

不过 (bù guò): meaning and stroke order

不过 (bù guò) means only, merely, no more than, but, however, anyway (to get back to a previous topic).

不过

Simplified
不过
Traditional
不過
Pinyin
bù guò

Stroke order of 不过

不

  • bù no; not so; (bound form) not; un-
  • 4 strokes

Stroke by stroke

过

  • Guō surname Guo
  • guò to cross; to go over
  • guo (experienced action marker)
  • 6 strokes
  • Traditional form: 過

Stroke by stroke

Meaning of 不过

  1. bù guò Traditional 不過
    • only
    • merely
    • no more than
    • but
    • however
    • anyway (to get back to a previous topic)
    • cannot be more (after adjectival)

Radicals of the characters

不
Radical 一 (Kangxi radical 1) · 4 strokes · built from 丆 and 卜
过
Radical 辵 (Kangxi radical 162) · 7 strokes · built from 辶 and 寸

Radicals and stroke counts: Unicode Unihan database. Structure: the shapes a character is written with (BabelStone IDS), not necessarily parts that carry meaning or sound.

不过 in our stories

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

  • 晚上，大家坐在湖边一起吃粽子，厨师说：“明年我还来，不过你们得教我包粽子。”

    wǎnshang dàjiā zuò zài hú biān yìqǐ chī zòngzi chúshī shuō míngnián wǒ hái lái búguò nǐmen děi jiāo wǒ bāo zòngzi

    In the evening everyone sat by the lake eating zongzi, and the chef said, "I'll be back next year, but you have to teach me to make zongzi."

    From the story Dragon boats in Hamburg HSK 5

  • 不过，也有人觉得精卫太傻：一只小鸟怎么可能填平大海？这不是白费力气吗？

    búguò yě yǒu rén juéde Jīngwèi tài shǎ yì zhī xiǎo niǎo zěnme kěnéng tián píng dàhǎi zhè bú shì báifèi lìqi ma

    Some people, though, think Jingwei is foolish: how could a small bird ever fill the sea? Isn't it wasted effort?

    From the story Jingwei fills the sea HSK 7–9 · Level 8

  • 至于车的损失，郝大爷主动说，修车的钱他来出。贝女士却摆摆手：“不用了，保险能赔。不过，修剪树枝的时候，能不能叫上我？”

    zhìyú chē de sǔnshī Hǎo dàye zhǔdòng shuō xiū chē de qián tā lái chū Bèi nǚshì què bǎibǎishǒu bú yòng le bǎoxiǎn néng péi búguò xiūjiǎn shùzhī de shíhou néng bù néng jiào shàng wǒ

    As for the car, Mr Hao offered to pay for the repair himself. But Ms Bei waved it away: "No need, the insurance will pay. But when you prune the branches, could you call me?"

    From the story The persimmon tree over the wall HSK 7–9 · Level 9

Stories using 不过

Dictionary data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Stroke data: Hanzi Writer data, derived from Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License). Animation: Hanzi Writer (MIT licence). Radicals and stroke counts: Unicode Unihan (Unicode License v3).