mais

/mɛ/

but

Je veux aller au cinéma, mais il pleut.

I want to go to the cinema, but it's raining.

formalinformal

Used to introduce a contrasting idea or exception in a sentence.

Elle est gentille, mais parfois un peu autoritaire.

She is kind, but sometimes a bit authoritarian.

Often used to contrast two ideas or to introduce an exception.

Collocations

but yes

but still

In informal speech, 'mais' can be used at the start of a sentence for emphasis.

'Mais' is used to contrast two ideas or to introduce an exception.

From Old French 'mais', from Latin 'magis' meaning 'more'.

Can be used at the beginning of a sentence for emphasis or to introduce a new topic.

Dictionnaire Français-Anglais