What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

There vs But - What's the difference?

there | but |

In obsolete terms the difference between there and but

is that there is where, there where, in which place while but is only; solely; merely.

As adverbs the difference between there and but

is that there is in a place or location (stated, implied or otherwise indicated) at some distance from the speaker (compare here) while but is merely, only.

As nouns the difference between there and but

is that there is that place while but is an instance or example of using the word "but".

As an interjection there

is Used to offer encouragement or sympathy.

As a pronoun there

is Used as an expletive subject of {{term|be in its sense of “exist”, with the semantic, usually indefinite subject being postponed or (occasionally) implied.}.

As a preposition but is

outside of.

As a conjunction but is

except (for), excluding. Preceded by a negation.

there

English

Adverb

(-)
  • (location) In a place or location (stated, implied or otherwise indicated) at some distance from the speaker (compare here ).
  • * 1623 , , The Comedy of Errors , Act 5, Scene 1,
  • And in a dark and dankish vault at home / There left me and my man, both bound together;
  • * 1769 , , 2, viii,
  • The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
  • * 1667 , '', 1773, James Buchanan (editor), ''The First Six Books of Milton's Paradise Lost: Rendered into Grammatical Construction , page 381,
  • To veil the heav'n, tho' darkne?s there' might well / Seem twilight ' here .
  • (figuratively) In that matter, relation, etc.; at that point, stage, etc., regarded as a distinct place.
  • He did not stop there , but continued his speech.
    They patched up their differences, but matters did not end there .
  • * 1597 '', Act 3, Scene 3, 1836, ''The Works of Shakespeare , Isaac, Tuckey, and Co., page 825,
  • The law, that threaten’d death, becomes thy friend / And turns it to exile; there art thou happy.
  • (location) To or into that place; thither.
  • * , prologue:
  • A knight there was, and that a worthy man /
  • * 1623 , , Act 2, Scene 1,
  • And the rarest that e’er came there .
  • * 1690 , , paragraph 4:
  • So that wherever there is sense or perception, there some idea is actually produced, and present in the understanding.
  • * 1769 , , 28, vii,
  • There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen:
  • (obsolete) Where, there where, in which place.
  • * , The Summoners's Prologue and Tale]'', in ''[[w:The Canterbury Tales, The Canterbury Tales] ,
  • And spende hir good ther it is resonable;
  • *:: Note : Modern editions commonly render this instance of ther'' as ''where .
  • In existence or in this world; see pronoun section below .
  • * 1928 January, Captain Ferdinand Tuohy, "Why Don't We Fly?", in Popular Science , page 144:
  • These firms do not want the truth to get out and are financing these flights in the hope of dazzling the public. Yet the record of the gas engine is there for all to see.

    Usage notes

    * The use of there'' instead of they're (meaning ''they are ) is a common error in English writing. * (to or into that place) ** There'' is sometimes used by way of exclamation, calling attention to something, especially to something distant; as, There, there'''! See '''there'''! Look ' there ! ** There is often used as an expletive, and in this use, when it introduces a sentence or clause, the verb precedes its subject. ** There is much used in composition, and often has the sense of a pronoun. See thereabout, thereafter, therefrom, etc.

    Synonyms

    * (to or into that place) thither (archaic)

    Derived terms

    * * * * * * * * * * *

    Interjection

    (en interjection)
  • There, there. Everything is going to turn out all right.
  • There! That knot should hold.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • That place.
  • *
  • *
  • That status; that position.
  • You get it ready; I'll take it from there .

    Pronoun

    (English Pronouns)
  • There are two apples on the table. [=Two apples are on the table.]
    There is no way to do it. [=No way to do it exists.]
    Is there an answer? [=Does an answer exist?]
    No, there isn't. [=No, one doesn't exist.]
  • * 1908', C. H. Bovill (lyrics), Jerome D. Kern (music), '''', song from the musical ''Fluffy Ruffles ,
  • It's very sad but all the same, / There ’s something rather odd about Augustus.
  • * 1909', ,
  • There was a time when I tried to change my position, which was not in harmony with my conscience; .
  • * 1918 , , Part 1, II,
  • There are intentional and unintentional towns.
  • If x is a positive number, then there''' exists ''[='''there is]'' a positive number y less than x.
    There remain several problems with this approach. [=Several problems remain with this approach.]
    Once upon a time, in a now-forgotten kingdom, there''' lived a woodsman with his wife.'' [=' There was a woodsman, who lived with his wife.]
    There''' arose a great wind out of the east.'' [=' There was now a great wind, arising in the east.]
  • * 1895 , Sabine Baring-Gould, : Nursery Songs, XXII: The Tree in the Wood,
  • All in a wood there grew a fine tree,
  • * 1897 , '': The Kentucky Home, in ''Four Great Americans ,
  • Not far from Hodgensville, in Kentucky, there once lived a man whose name was Thomas Lincoln.
  • * 1904 , Uriel Waldo Cutler, , Chapter XXXI: How Sir Launcelot Found the Holy Grail,
  • On a night, as he slept, there came a vision unto him, and a voice said, "Launcelot, arise up, and take thine armour, and enter into the first ship that thou shalt find."
  • There''' seems to be some difficulty with the papers.'' [=It seems that ' there is some difficulty with the papers.]
    I expected there''' to be a simpler solution.'' [=I expected that ' there would be a simpler solution.]
    There''' are beginning to be complications.'' [=It's beginning to be the case that ' there are complications.]
  • (in combination with certain prepositions, no longer productive) That.
  • there'''for, '''there'''at, ' there under
  • (colloquial)
  • Hi there , young fellow.

    Usage notes

    * In formal English, the verb agrees with the semantic subject: “there is a tree”, “there are some trees”, “there seems to be a mistake”, “there seem to be some mistakes”, and so on. This is because the "there [form of be]" construction originally used, and could still be said to use, "there" as simply an adverb modifying "to be". However, the syntax is archaic enough that "there" is rarely recognized as an adverb. In colloquial usage, therefore, the verb is often found in the third-person singular form, even when the semantic subject is plural — “there’s some trees”, “there seems to be some mistakes” — but this is often considered incorrect.

    See also

    *

    Statistics

    *

    but

    English

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • (obsolete, outside, Scotland) Outside of.
  • Away but the hoose and tell me whae's there.
  • Without, apart from, except.
  • Everyone but Father left early.
    ''I like everything but that.

    Adverb

    (-)
  • Merely, only.
  • * 1791 , (Robert Burns), "(Ae Fond Kiss)":
  • For to see her was to love her,
    Love but her, and love for ever.
  • * 1900 , , (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) :
  • Now the Wicked Witch of the West had but one eye, yet that was as powerful as a telescope, and could see everywhere.
  • * 1977 , (Alistair Horne), A Savage War of Peace , New York Review Books, 2006, p.49:
  • The stony outcrops are often covered but thinly with arable soil; winters are bitingly cold, and rainfall scanty and unpredictable.
  • (Australian, conjunctive) Though, however.
  • I'll have to go home early but .

    Conjunction

    (wikipedia but) (English Conjunctions)
  • Except (for), excluding. Preceded by a negation.
  • :
  • *{{quote-news, year=2011, date=October 23, author=Becky Ashton, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= QPR 1-0 Chelsea , passage=Luiz struggled with the movement of Helguson in the box, as he collected a long ball and the Spaniard barged him over, leaving referee Chris Foy little option but to point to the spot.}}
  • On the contrary, but rather (introducing a word or clause that contrasts with or contradicts the preceding clause or sentence without the not ).
  • :
  • However, although, nevertheless (implies that the following clause is contrary to prior belief or contrasts with or contradicts the preceding clause or sentence).
  • :
  • :
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author= Ian Sample
  • , volume=189, issue=6, page=34, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains , passage=Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits.  ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.}}
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=55, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Travels and travails , passage=Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But , as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.}}
  • Except that (introducing a subordinate clause which qualifies a negative statement); also, with omission of the subject of the subordinate clause, acting as a negative relative, "except one that", "except such that".
  • *, II.15:
  • *:There is no reason but hath another contrary unto it, saith the wisest party of Philosophers.
  • *Shakespeare
  • *:And but my noble Moor is true of mindit were enough to put him to ill thinking.
  • *1820 , (John Keats), ‘Lamia’, Lamia & Other Poems :
  • *:A deadly silence step by step increased, / Until it seem'd a horrid presence there, / And not a man but felt the terror in his hair.
  • :
  • Without it also being the case that; unless that (introducing a necessary concomitant).
  • :
  • (obsolete) Except with; unless with; without.
  • *Fuller
  • *:So insolent that he could not go but either spurning equals or trampling on his inferiors.
  • *Motto of the Mackintoshes
  • *:Touch not the cat but a glove.
  • (obsolete) Only; solely; merely.
  • *Milton
  • *:Observe but how their own principles combat one another.
  • *Bible, 2 Kings vii. 4
  • *:If they kill us, we shall but die.
  • *Dryden
  • *:a formidable man but to his friends
  • Usage notes

    * Beginning a sentence with a coordinating conjunction such as but' is considered incorrect by classical grammarians arguing that a coordinating conjunction at the start of a sentence has nothing to connect, but use of the word in this way is very common. It is, however, best to avoid beginning a sentence with '''but''' in formal writing. Combining sentences or using '''however''', '''nevertheless''', '''still''', or ' though is appropriate for the formal style. ** But this tool has its uses. ** This tool has its uses, however. ** Nevertheless, this tool has its uses. ** Still, this tool has its uses. ** This tool still has its uses. ** This tool has its uses, though. * The use of the word but preceded by a comma is also considered incorrect by classical grammarians. ** I was very tired, but I decided to continue. ** It was a lovely day, but rain looked likely.

    Synonyms

    * (except) bar, unless, excepting, excluding, with the exception of, without * (however) yet, although, ac

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An instance or example of using the word "but".
  • It has to be done – no ifs or buts .
  • (Scotland) The outer room of a small two-room cottage.
  • A limit; a boundary.
  • The end; especially the larger or thicker end, or the blunt, in distinction from the sharp, end; the butt.
  • Derived terms

    * all but * but and ben * but good *

    Statistics

    *