非但没有...反而...
Reach for 非但没有...反而... when reality flipped expectations on their head — the action that should have helped made things worse, or vice versa. The 非但没有 half says 'not only did the expected thing not happen,' and the 反而 half delivers the surprise: 'on the contrary, this opposite thing happened.' It's the language of plot twists in news reports, business write-ups, and arguments about unintended consequences.
Structure
[SUBJECT] 非但没有 [EXPECTED OUTCOME]，反而 [OPPOSITE OUTCOME]
fēidàn méiyǒu... fǎn'ér...
How to Think About It
非但 is a stronger, more emphatic 不但 ('not only'); pairing it with 没有 explicitly negates an expected positive. 反而 isn't just 'but' — it specifically means 'against expectation, the reverse happened.' So this pattern locks in a reversal: A was supposed to happen, A didn't, and the opposite B is what actually unfolded. Plain 但是 doesn't carry that reversal flavor.
Examples
他非但没有帮忙，反而添了不少麻烦。
Tā fēidàn méiyǒu bāngmáng, fǎn'ér tiānle bù shǎo máfan.
Not only did he not help, he actually caused a lot of trouble.
降价后，销量非但没有上升，反而下降了。
Jiàngjià hòu, xiāoliàng fēidàn méiyǒu shàngshēng, fǎn'ér xiàjiàng le.
After the price cut, sales didn't go up — they actually went down.
吃了药之后，他非但没有好转，反而病得更重了。
Chīle yào zhīhòu, tā fēidàn méiyǒu hǎozhuǎn, fǎn'ér bìng de gèng zhòng le.
After taking the medicine, he didn't get better — he actually got even sicker.
Common Mistake
Learners use 但是 instead of 反而, missing the 'against expectation' meaning. 但是 is just neutral contrast; 反而 specifically says the outcome flipped the way the listener was leaning.
他非但没有道歉，但是骂了我一顿。
他非但没有道歉，反而骂了我一顿。
Don't Confuse With
不但不...反而...
Same logic, slightly softer register. Use 不但不 in everyday speech; reach for 非但没有 when you want extra emphasis on the broken expectation.
不但...而且...
Opposite direction — additive ('not only X, but also Y'). Same surface pieces, but no reversal: both clauses point the same way.
反而...
Standalone 反而 can deliver a reversal without the 非但没有 setup, but the pattern feels weaker. The setup makes the contrast hit harder.
Practice
Fill in the blank: 他非但没有道歉，___还指责了我。
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反而
Fill in the blank: 这项政策___但没有解决问题，反而引发了更多争议。
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非
Arrange: 反而 / 非但 / 减少 / 没有 / 加班 / 增加 / 了 / ， / 工作量
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加班非但没有减少工作量，反而增加了。
Translate to Chinese: He didn't apologize after making a mistake; on the contrary, he blamed others.
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他犯错以后非但没有道歉，反而把责任推给了别人。
Describe a situation where the expected result didn't happen and the opposite did, using 非但没有...反而....
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我熬夜复习，非但没有考好，反而因为太累发挥失常了。
Hear It in Real Episodes
This pattern appears in 1 Fluentide episode: