# 却 Marks the Contrast in 577 Clauses

> 却 stands before the verb to mark a contrast in 577 clauses of the Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified), where a modern text would open the clause with 但是.

**Pattern:** clause, subject + 却 + verb
**HSK level:** 4 — the highest HSK level of the point's own function words, as data/dict.json grades them; a word the HSK lists do not grade sends the point to 'beyond'
**Rule used to find it:** 却 immediately before a word with a verb sense — the contrast marked from inside the clause.
**Confidence:** counted — 30 of 577 matches checked, 100% correct, by Claude Opus 5, reading each sampled clause in context; not a native speaker

English puts but at the front of the clause. Chinese can do that too, but it can also mark the contrast from inside, in the adverb slot before the verb: 大卫却倚靠耶和华, but David relied on the LORD. Nothing at the head of the clause warns you it is coming.

The Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified) uses 却 1,052 times. 475 of those occurrences are the same words doing something else.

This is the HSK 4 word that quietly replaces the HSK 2 one. A textbook teaches 但是 first; this translation uses 却 many times more often, and a reader watching for a clause-initial conjunction will miss the contrast entirely.

It is commonest in Psalms, with 44 of them, and 75% of all of them fall in the Old Testament — which is mostly a statement about length, since the Old Testament is the longer part of the book.

## Examples

- **Matthew 25:12** — 他却回答说：『我实在告诉你们，我不认识你们。』
  - tā què huí dá shuō ：『 wǒ shí zài gào sù nǐ men ， wǒ bú rèn shi nǐ men 。』
  - But he answered, ‘Most certainly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
  - construction: 却回答
- **2 Corinthians 4:12** — 这样看来，死是在我们身上发动，生却在你们身上发动。
  - zhè yàng kàn lái ， sǐ shì zài wǒ men shēn shang fā dòng ， shēng què zài nǐ men shēn shang fā dòng 。
  - So then death works in us, but life in you.
  - construction: 却在
- **John 7:29** — 我却认识他；因为我是从他来的，他也是差了我来。」
  - wǒ què rèn shi tā ； yīn wèi wǒ shì cóng tā lái de ， tā yě shì chāi le wǒ lái 。」
  - I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.”
  - construction: 却认识
- **Genesis 24:33** — 把饭摆在他面前，叫他吃，他却说：「我不吃，等我说明白我的事情再吃。」拉班说：「请说。」
  - bǎ fàn bǎi zài tā miàn qián ， jiào tā chī ， tā què shuō ：「 wǒ bù chī ， děng wǒ shuō míng bái wǒ de shì qing zài chī 。」 lā bān shuō ：「 qǐng shuō 。」
  - Food was set before him to eat, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told my message.” Laban said, “Speak on.”
  - construction: 却说
- **Acts 10:26** — 彼得却拉他，说：「你起来，我也是人。」
  - bǐ dé què lā tā ， shuō ：「 nǐ qǐ lái ， wǒ yě shì rén 。」
  - But Peter raised him up, saying, “Stand up! I myself am also a man.”
  - construction: 却拉
- **Luke 2:19** — 马利亚却把这一切的事存在心里，反复思想。
  - mǎ lì yà què bǎ zhè yí qiè de shì cún zài xīn li ， fǎn fù sī xiǎng 。
  - But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart.
  - construction: 却把

## The words this point is built on

| Word | Reading | HSK | Occurrences |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 却 | què | 4 | 1,052 |

The HSK column is the level data/dict.json gives the word, and it is what puts this point at level 4.

## What those occurrences are doing

|  | Occurrences | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| the construction | 577 | 55% |
| the same words doing something else | 475 | 45% |

## Where it occurs most

| Book | Clauses |
| --- | --- |
| Psalms | 44 |
| Isaiah | 39 |
| Jeremiah | 34 |
| Proverbs | 31 |
| Ezekiel | 26 |

Counted from what the rule matched, before the audit — a ranking, not a published total.

## Words the 和合本 uses in the same slot

| Word | Reading | HSK | Occurrences | What it does |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 然而 | rán ér | 4 | 162 | clause-initial 'however' |
| 虽 | suī | 6 | 132 | classical 'although', opening the concessive clause |
| 但是 | dàn shì | 2 | 13 | the modern clause-initial contrast |

The candidates are chosen by hand; the counts are measured, and a candidate the corpus cannot illustrate with a real verse is left out. No claim is made that they are interchangeable.

## Questions

**Can 却 and 但是 appear in the same sentence?**

Yes, and it is not redundant: 但是 opens the clause and 却 marks the verb, which together make the contrast heavier. The Psalms do this repeatedly.

**How often does it occur in the Chinese Bible?**

577 clauses in the Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified), out of 1,052 occurrences of the words that mark it.

**Which book of the Bible uses it most?**

Psalms, with 44 — followed by Isaiah (39), Jeremiah (34), Proverbs (31).

**How do you know the count is right?**

The rule is: 却 immediately before a word with a verb sense — the contrast marked from inside the clause. 30 of its 577 matches were drawn at random and checked one by one; 100% were right. Recall is not measured, so the figure is what this rule finds, not everything the translation contains.

Page: https://chinese-bible.com/en/grammar/que-contrastive

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