Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use but in a sentence

40 example sentences · preposition, adverb, conjunction

But means apart from, except (for), excluding. Example: “Everyone but Father left early.”

Examples of but by meaning

prepositionApart from, except (for), excluding.

  • Everyone but Father left early.
  • I like everything but that.
  • Nobody answered the door when I knocked, so I had no choice but to leave.

prepositionOutside of.

  • Away but the hoose and tell me whae's there.

adverbMerely, only, just, no more than.

  • Christmas comes but once a year, so we can but wait till then.
  • Now the Wicked Witch of the West had but one eye, yet that was as powerful as a telescope, and could see everywhere.1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M[elvin] Hill Co., →OCLC
  • Black Knight: "'Tis but a scratch." King Arthur: "A scratch?1975, Monty Python, Monty Python and the Holy Grail

adverbThough, however.

  • I'll have to go home early but.
  • "Supposin' the chap ain't dead, but?" Regan persisted.1906, "Steele Rudd", Back At Our Selection, page 161
  • ‘I didn’t like that sheila that tried to latch onto him, but.’1982, Paul Radley, My Blue-Checker Corker and Me, Sydney: Fontana/Collins, page 16

adverbUsed to repeat an adverb for emphasis; simply; just; absolutely.

  • I would never, but never do such a thing!
  • “I would never,” said Joan, as she backed the car and worked on the wheel, “but never have allowed my child to go abroad with that old Lesbian.”1957 March 7, Vladimir Nabokov, chapter 6.11, in Pnin, Heinemann, page 166
  • The Nobel prize for literature is announced tomorrow lunchtime so it's time for the usual annual guessing game here on the Books desk, safe in the knowledge that we always, but always, get it wrong.2009 October 7, Michelle Pauli, “Who will win the Nobel prize for literature?”, in The Guardian

conjunctionHowever, although, nevertheless, on the other hand (introducing a clause contrary to prior belief or in contrast with...

  • She is very old but still attractive.
  • She’s welcomed them but been rude to us.
  • You told me I could do that, but she said that I could not.

conjunctionOn the contrary, rather (as a regular adversative conjunction, introducing a word or clause in contrast or...

  • It’s not so much that we don’t wanna go, but I just haven’t time.

conjunctionUsed at the beginning of a sentence to express opposition to a remark.

  • But I never said you could do that!
  • But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.2013 June 29, “Travels and travails”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 55

More sentences with but

  • As I tiptoed past the sleeping dog, my heart was pounding but I remained silent.From the entry pound
  • You may be my boss, but that doesn't mean you can insult me.From the entry may
  • Tomorrow's Thursday, but I have Friday and Saturday off, so really it's my Friday.From the entry Friday
  • I can’t find my reading glasses, but they must be somewhere about the house.From the entry about
  • This idea has been about for a while but has only recently become fashionable.From the entry about
  • Some of the cast went down with flu, but the show's still on.From the entry on
  • He'd like to play the red next to the black spot, but that shot isn't on.From the entry on
  • We used to prepare everything today, but now we split it over two days.From the entry today
  • It was a difficult time, but I’m the wiser for it.From the entry the
  • The plural of 'cat' is 'cats', but the plural of 'child' is 'children'.From the entry plural
  • Sorry to spring it on you like this but I've been offered another job.From the entry spring
  • Most people dream in color, but some dream in black and white.From the entry color
  • His speech was in French, but was simultaneously translated into eight languages.From the entry in
  • I googled him but there were no references to him on the Internet.From the entry google
  • The battery lasts a day in my phone, but your mileage may vary.From the entry your mileage may vary
  • I think that red dress looks really good on you, but your mileage may vary, of course.From the entry your mileage may vary
  • He was of noble birth, but fortune had not favored him.From the entry birth
  • The old man had craggy, uncultured features, but had bright, intelligent eyes.From the entry craggy
  • I don’t know how many books are in the library, but they must number in the thousands.From the entry number
  • The apple looked fine on the outside, but the meat was not very firm.From the entry meat
  • He was here just a bit ago, but it looks like he's stepped out.From the entry bit

Meaning of but

  1. preposition Apart from, except (for), excluding.
  2. preposition Outside of.
  3. adverb Merely, only, just, no more than.

Full definition of but

Questions about but in a sentence

How do you use but in a sentence?
But is used as a preposition, adverb and conjunction. For example: “Everyone but Father left early.”
What is a short sentence with but?
“Everyone but Father left early.”
What does but mean?
But means apart from, except (for), excluding.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: but (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use but in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/but. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.