HELP!!!!

They appear to be interchangeable to me.. The only thing I can see the difference is that 却 is more of a thing where you would say "However, this is the right way and the only way. As compared with, 但 which tends to suggest a more open-minded point of view: "However, this a good way of doing it as well." I am just a newbie so I am most likely wrong though.. :)

Hi hitokiri6993, I posed a very similar question once here: http://chinesepod.com/lessons/importexport/ Here my question: "It would have never came to my mind to put a 却 in 但是外国对中国出口的东西却要提高关税. Isn't the "however" meaning not already covered with the 但是? And beyond that, why put it at that seemingly arbitrary position in front of the 要? Is there a logic behind that or is this once again one of those "You need to feel the force"-type of thing?" And John's answer: Yes, the "however" meaning is communicated by the 但是 (dànshì), but it is further reinforced by the 却 (què). The positioning is anything but arbitrary, however. Unlike 但是 (dànshì), however, 却 (què) is an adverb, so it has to go before the verb.

Hi henning...please correct me if I'm wrong, but from my understanding...但 is used as a conjunction used to connect clauses and such while 卻 is used as an adverb, right? Here's my possibly incorrect sentence: :D 你卻不在 "Nevertheless, you're not here." and ...但是你不在 "...but you're not here." Does it have the same meaning?

hitokiri6993, I am definately the wrong person to ask this kind of question... ;) But my wife said, both are correct and about the same regarding their meaning.

Dear Hitokiri, Both sentence are right and carry the same meaning.

henning, thanks a lot! I'm getting it and all I need is practice with 但 & 卻。 :) 非常感謝！