卻grammar point · tier 1 · adverbial 卻 (yet, however — contrary to what was set up)
· què
Clause-internal adverb marking the predicate as running counter to what the first clause led you to expect; sits after the subject, before the verb.
字源 FORM what the parts do
A kneeling figure (卩) drawing back, turning to pull the other way. The valley 谷 sits beside it, its sound role worn past reading. 卻 takes the turn-against and plants it inside the clause, after the subject, ahead of the predicate.
故事 STORY a scene to remember it by
The first clause runs downhill one way. Inside the second, just past its subject, 卻 kneels and shoves the predicate back uphill against it.
字源記憶法
框 · Frame
[clause A], [subject B] 卻 [predicate, contrary to A]
觸 · Trigger
You have set something up, and the next thing turns against it — the reversal rides on the second subject's own predicate.
序 · The move
1State clause A — the setup that builds an expectation.Does A genuinely lean a direction, so a turn is felt?
2Open clause B with its subject, then place 卻 right after that subject.卻 sits inside B, after the subject and before the verb — never at the head of the clause like a conjunction.
3Let the predicate run against the expectation A built.Remove 卻: B still parses but the felt reversal is gone — that confirms 卻 was carrying it.
例 · Examples
1外面太陽sun很大，但but溫度temperature卻yet (counter to expectation)很低is low。
The sun outside is strong, yet the temperature is low.
但是/可是 are conjunctions that sit at the head of the clause, joining two clauses. 卻 is an adverb that sits inside the clause, after the subject and before the verb. They co-occur: 但…卻… puts the join at the head and the turn on the predicate.
雖然…但是… frames the concession from the outside, both ends marked. 卻 carries the turn unmarked at the front and lets the predicate do the reversing from within.
✗ 但溫度很低卻。 → ✓ 但溫度卻很低。 (卻 goes before the predicate, not at the clause end)
✗ 卻外面太陽很大，溫度很低。 → ✓ 外面太陽很大，溫度卻很低。 (卻 marks the second, turning clause from inside — not the opening setup)
✗ 他很努力卻成績不好。 → ✓ 他很努力，成績卻不好。 (卻 sits after the subject 成績 of its own clause, not floating between clauses)
English 'however/yet' floats to the clause front; learners front 卻 the same way. 卻 stays buried after the subject, on the predicate.