Turkish has several words for "but," and the difference between them is mostly register — how formal you sound — plus one important trap: ancak also means "only / not until." This page sorts them out so you reach for the natural one in conversation and the right one in writing.
ama — the everyday "but"
ama is the conversational default. It is what you say out loud, text to a friend, and use in any informal context. If you remember only one word for "but," make it this one. It sits between the two contrasting clauses.
İstedim ama olmadı.
I wanted to, but it didn't work out.
Yorgunum ama keyfim yerinde.
I'm tired, but I'm in a good mood.
Arasaydın gelirdim ama haber vermedin.
I'd have come if you'd called, but you didn't let me know.
ama can also open a sentence as a softened protest or surprise — "but…!" — much like English "But that's not fair!":
Ama ben sana söylemiştim!
But I told you so!
fakat — the slightly formal "but"
fakat means the same as ama but sits a notch higher in register. It belongs to careful speech, writing, and formal contexts. In everyday chat it sounds a little stiff; in an essay or a news article it is perfectly at home.
Yoruldum fakat mutluyum.
I got tired, but I'm happy.
Teklif cazipti, fakat şartları ağırdı.
The offer was attractive, but its terms were harsh.
You can use fakat and ama interchangeably for meaning; only the tone changes. A useful instinct: if you would write the sentence in a formal report, fakat fits; if you would say it to a friend over coffee, ama fits.
ancak — "however" and the trap of "only"
ancak is the most interesting of the set because it does two jobs.
As a contrastive connector it means "however / but," and it is more formal than ama — common in writing, journalism, and measured speech.
Plan iyiydi; ancak uygulama başarısız oldu.
The plan was good; however, the implementation failed.
Geleceğini söyledi, ancak gelmedi.
He said he would come; however, he didn't.
But ancak also means "only / merely / not until," restricting an amount or marking the earliest a thing can happen. This sense is everywhere in everyday Turkish and is not formal.
Ancak yarın gelebilir.
He can only come tomorrow (not before).
Ancak şimdi geldi.
He only just came (not until now).
Bu parayla ancak ekmek alırsın.
With this money you can only buy bread (that's all it'll stretch to).
So the same word, ancak, can mean "however" or "only" depending on context and position. Roughly: when it links two clauses as a hinge of contrast, read "however"; when it sits in front of a time word, quantity, or possibility, read "only / not until." Context disambiguates them reliably, but learners who only know the "however" sense badly misread the "only" sentences.
yine de / buna rağmen — "still / nevertheless"
These are concessive connectors: they concede the first point and then push back against it — "even so," "still," "nevertheless." Use them when the second clause holds despite the first.
yine de means "still / even so / nevertheless":
Çok çalıştı, yine de kazanamadı.
He worked hard; still, he couldn't win.
Hava soğuktu, yine de yürüyüşe çıktık.
It was cold; even so, we went for a walk.
buna rağmen means "despite this / in spite of that," and is built on rağmen ("despite"), which also attaches to nouns and nominalized clauses — the full picture is on the concession with rağmen page:
Onu defalarca uyardım; buna rağmen dinlemedi.
I warned him many times; despite this, he didn't listen.
These differ from plain "but": ama simply contrasts two things, while yine de and buna rağmen stress that the result holds against expectation. You can even stack them with ama for force: Yoruldum ama yine de devam ettim ("I got tired but even so I kept going").
A note on what links to what
Like the other Turkish conjunctions in the conjunctions overview, all of these are separate words written with spaces, and they link clauses — full statements that contrast. For contrasting two ongoing situations against each other, Turkish also has the suffixal -(y)sA / ise strategy ("whereas"), covered on the contrast with ise and ama page; and for "but" as the opposite of "or," see or.
Common mistakes
❌ Selam! Gelecektim fakat işim çıktı.
Stilted — fakat is too formal for a casual message; use ama.
✅ Selam! Gelecektim ama işim çıktı.
Hi! I was going to come but something came up.
✅ Ancak yarın gelebilir.
Misread as 'however, he can come tomorrow' — before a time word ancak means 'only': he can only come tomorrow.
❌ Çok çalıştı ama kazanamadı, ama denedi.
Awkward — for 'even so / nevertheless' use yine de, not a second ama.
✅ Çok çalıştı, yine de kazanamadı.
He worked hard; still, he couldn't win.
❌ Yoruldum ancak mutluyum.
Register clash — ancak here sounds bookish for a personal feeling; use ama or fakat.
✅ Yoruldum ama mutluyum.
I got tired but I'm happy.
❌ Buna rağmen dinlemedi ama uyardım.
Wrong order — the conceded clause comes first, then buna rağmen + the result.
✅ Onu uyardım; buna rağmen dinlemedi.
I warned him; despite this, he didn't listen.
Key takeaways
- ama is the everyday, conversational "but" — your default in speech and casual writing.
- fakat means the same but is a notch more formal; reserve it for careful speech and writing.
- ancak means "however" between clauses, but also "only / not until" before a time or amount — context decides, and the "only" sense is common and not formal.
- yine de ("still / even so") and buna rağmen ("despite this") are concessive: the second clause holds against expectation.
- All of these are separate words linking full clauses; for "whereas" contrasts Turkish also uses the suffixal -(y)sA / ise.
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Start learning Turkish→Related Topics
- Conjunctions vs Native SuffixationA2 — Why most Turkish conjunctions are borrowed words for a written style, while native Turkish links clauses with converbs instead.
- Contrast: ama, ise, oysa, halbukiB2 — Four ways to mark contrast in Turkish — plain ama 'but', the clitic topic-contraster ise 'as for/whereas', and oysa/halbuki for counter-expectation 'but in fact' — and how to choose the one that says exactly what you mean.
- Or: veya, ya da, yoksaA2 — How to say 'or' in Turkish — neutral listing with veya and ya da versus the alternative-question and 'or else' word yoksa.
- Concession: rağmen, -DIğI halde, yine deB2 — How Turkish says 'although / despite' without any finite 'although' word — concession is built by nominalizing the clause: rağmen takes a dative noun or -mA clause, -DIğI halde takes the factive participle, and yine de / buna rağmen resume the main point.