我有一个问题

 他聪明是聪明，就是长得不好看。
       He may be intelligent, but he's not attractive. 1 (He may be intelligent, but he's not attractive.)

Dear Crystal,

The above sentece was in one of the last QingWen lessons. I would have translated: He is intelligent, but he is not attractive. How come there is a "may be" in the translation?

Thanks a lot in advance and a very good start into the New Year 2011.

Best regards

Patricia