-는데 vs -지만: Same Outfit, Different But
예쁜데 비싸요 sets up. 예쁘지만 비싸요 makes the but the point. Trailing off with 지만 is the line that fails.
Same shirt, two hinges
You hold a shirt in a shop, not in a grammar drill. You like it. The tag is high. Say that twice, and keep the rest of the sentence still.
예쁜데 비싸요.
yeppeunde bissayo — It’s pretty — and it’s expensive.
예쁜데 sets the pretty as a scene, then lets the price in. The contrast is soft. You might still buy it. The listener hears a lead-in, not a verdict.
Swap only the hinge.
예쁘지만 비싸요.
yeppeujiman bissayo — It’s pretty, but it’s expensive.
지만 makes the but the point. The price is why you are talking. If your next move is to put the shirt back, this is the hinge. 예쁜데 was still open. 예쁘지만 is closing.
The hang that 지만 cannot do
Someone asks if you are free tomorrow. You start, and you stop.
내일 시험 있는데… That hang is a real Korean sentence. The 는데 is background. The request or refusal is coming, or it is already understood.
내일 시험 있지만… is the wrong swap. -지만 wants the second clause. It will not trail off as a soft scene. If you force 요 on it — 있지만요 — you still sound like you promised a contrast and then dropped it.
That is the place one choice is wrong. Not a tone upgrade. A broken hang.
When the but is the news
맛있는데 줄이 길어요 — you might still wait. 맛있지만 줄이 길어요 — the line is the objection. A friend who only wanted a review will hear the first as news plus a snag. The second as a no.
좋은데요 at the end of a turn is still 는데: you like it, and something unsaid is coming. 좋지만요 tries to do that job with 지만 and sounds unfinished in the wrong way, the same failure as 있지만….
Do not walk out saying both are fine. If you are still in the story, 는데. If the contrast is the reason you spoke, 지만. If you need to stop halfway, only 는데 will hold the air. Keep 지만 for the sentence that already knows its second half.
Common questions
Is this -는데① or ②?
The forms are the same. This page uses the contrast sense of -는데, because we are swapping it with -지만. Setup-only 는데 is the twin page on the hub.
맛있는데 칼로리 높아요 vs 맛있지만?
맛있는데 leaves room: you might still eat. 맛있지만 puts the high calories in the spotlight as the objection. Pick by whether the but is the news.
그런데?
그런데 starts a new sentence. -는데 and -지만 glue two clauses. Do not treat 그런데 as a third ending on the same stem.
Can I stack them?
People do not. One hinge. If you need a second contrast, start a new sentence with 그런데 or 하지만.
Practice & questions
Try a sentence with an expression from this lesson, or ask about anything you are still unsure of.
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