What is the difference between conjunctives and conjunctions in Chinese? I sort of got an idea of conjunctive adverbs in English, but hazy on the long list of the two in Mandarin. I also see the same pattern in other sentences. I just don't understand why we put two ‘buts’ in the same sentence? Please help me understand that. Firstly, it's expensive, and secondly, it’s too slow. I don't want to go yet—in the first place I'm not ready, and in the second place it's raining. In the first place she didn't want to leave him. Secondly, she had no intention of abandoning any part in the film he was producing. I didn't kill anybody, first of all. Second, I don't go round praying to leaky ceilings. Now that you are here, you had better stay. You had better go to hospital at once. The idea is that the speaker has given the matter some thought, and after considering it, has finally come to a decision.