Character Familiesleft / right

但dàn

but; however; only; merely (但愿如此)

但 is but — the turn in the sentence, and only, nothing more.

GF0025–2021 character list · 二级

One character pageAll readings and linked senses stay together.

WHOLE GLYPH & STRUCTURE

left / right

ZDIC: 形声; the person side carries the meaning, 旦 the sound.

left / right · 但

WHOLE CHARACTER

but; however; only; merely (但愿如此)

但 is but — the turn in the sentence, and only, nothing more.

ZDIC: 形声; the person side carries the meaning, 旦 the sound.

MEANING

person (from 人)

Left-side person form; not a standalone page.

In 但: meaning Shown with its documented or clearly limited role.

SOUND

dawn; day

Standalone meaning is kept separate from its sound role in 但.

In 但: sound Sound side per ZDIC: dàn matches the whole character's sound exactly.

dànTone 4

Checking for a Mandarin voice…

ZDIC: 形声; the person side carries the meaning, 旦 the sound.

休 xiū — Shares a documented or visibly limited component with 但.

假 jiǎ, jià — Shares a documented or visibly limited component with 但.

们 men, mén — Shares a documented or visibly limited component with 但.

你 nǐ — Shares a documented or visibly limited component with 但.

Sources & verification

ZDIC single character entry — matched zdic; fields: pinyin, primary_definition, structure_strokes. Body SHA256: 13715416d62034321072a854ce4962c428cd2799b338a6521e5d16eee7b1936b. Captured 2026-11-01T01:47:30.707Z.
商务印书馆 Xinhua Dictionary official material — reference only; fields: edition, publication background. No specific character entry was obtained; dictionary fields are not covered.