: Re: What can I use instead of "but" and "however"? I just noticed I tend to use "but" and 'however" in almost every paragraph. Examples (all of them are from the same story): I almost let

@Jennifer354

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There are many synonyms to but. For the meaning you are pointing out in your question, some of them would be still, nevertheless, nonetheless, though, although, and yet. You can find these and the ones for the other meanings in any site with synonyms lookup function, such as Thesaurus ("but" synonyms).

However, it should be noted that it can be counterproductive to sprinkle your story with synonyms of a common word just for the sake of non-repetition. Just as it happens with the word "said": Many people think you should not abuse of "said" synonyms in dialog tags (see The Use and Abuse of Dialogue Tags, for example), because it "draws [the readers'] attention away from the dialogue and yank them out of the story". Same can happen with but. The abundance of random synonyms might rather obstruct the reading experience.

If you want to show two ideas are opposed, there can be workarounds, thinking outside the box. Some times these ideas are not inherently opposed (in your first example, "Funny enough, I didn't"); some other times, the causal relationship can be implied (in your fourth example, just removing it would keep the meaning: "As I stood there..."); and some other times, it can be necessary (the rest of your examples fall in this category, in my opinion).

To finish, a workaround example, one that I don't pretend to be substitutive nor better, just to explain the idea:

I wanted to cry. I wanted to shout at him, tell him that I was already here. As I opened my mouth, I realized I couldn't protest. It was my fault, after all.

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