-지만: The Plain Contrast (Blunter Than -는데)

-지만 is the connective that means the contrast is the job.

English speakers reach for but by habit. Koreans often just keep talking. When they do mark opposition clearly, -지만 is the blunt tool — straighter than -는데①, and not a list like -고.

The dictionary lists it as a shortening of -지마는. For learners, treat -지만 as the everyday form you will hear and say.

Forms

Attach -지만 to the stem. Batchim does not change the ending shape the way -(으)니까 does.

비싸지만 좋아요.           It's expensive, but I like it.
맛있지만 매워요.           It's delicious, but it's spicy.
학생입니다. 하지만…        (separate sentence — different rhythm)
학생이지만 일도 해요.      I'm a student, but I also work.

-지만 vs -는데

If you only need scene-setting, prefer -는데①. If the second clause fights the first, -지만 is honest.

Common mistakes

1. Using -지만 where -는데 fits — 비 오지만 우산 없어요 can sound like a hard clash; 비 오는데… often just frames weather.
2. Treating it like -아서/어서 — -지만 is contrast, not cause. 피곤하지만 자요 is contrast; tiredness-as-reason for a command needs other patterns.
3. Dropping ㄹ — 살다 → 살지만, not 사지만 (that drop belongs with endings like -(으)니까).
4. But-every-sentence — Korean does not need a contrast marker as often as English does.

Shopping-unit flavour

Sejong places this in a shopping unit for a reason: recommending and comparing products is full of soft fights — price vs quality, colour vs fit. Pair it with 보다 when the fight is “this one vs that one,” not only “clause vs clause.”