Get the appGet the app
Chinese frequency list

No. 17 in Chinese

而

"And," "but," or "while" (used to connect phrases or clauses).

In a sentence

  • 他喜欢读书,而她喜欢运动。

    He likes reading, whereas she likes sports.

    In this sentence, '而' is used to contrast two different subjects or entities by presenting a difference in preference or activity. It acts as a conjunction and is similar in meaning to 'whereas' or 'while' in English.

  • 事情发生了变化,而我们必须适应。

    Changes have occurred, and we must adapt.

    Here, '而' connects two clauses, indicating a continuation or result. It functions as a conjunction, meaning 'and' or 'so'.

  • 他努力工作而获得了成功。

    He worked hard and achieved success.

    In this example, '而' is utilized to show cause and effect between the effort and the outcome. It implies 'and then' or 'resulting in' in English.

Hear it in real podcasts

The recording above is a synthetic voice. Hear how people say “而” in actual Chinese podcasts.

Find “而” in podcasts

Learn it from shows you like

LangTurbo plays Chinese podcasts with a transcript and the English under every line. Tap a word like this one and it tells you what it means right there. For iPhone, iPad and Android.

Learning English?

LangTurbo plays real English podcasts with every line translated into 中文, and tells you what any word means in that sentence. For iPhone, iPad and Android.

Chinese books and courses on Amazon (an affiliate link: a purchase through it supports this site).