And vs. But

'And' and 'but' are two of the most common words in English. It's basically impossible to learn the language without learning these words, and people generally know how to use them, but there are some nuances that get missed.

First of all, these words are not opposites. They both are used to add extra information, but they tinge that information in different ways.

'But' is used for contrast. If your first statement is positive, the 'but' statement will be negative. If the first statement shows something being exclusive, the 'but' statement will show how it is inclusive. It's fairly simple.

The opposite of contrast is comparison. 'And' can be used to compare, but it doesn't have to. Sometimes, 'and' is used simply to add more information. For example, consider this sentence: "You're stupid and I love you." People may assume that the two things are related, like the love comes from the stupidity. But really, it is a statement of two independent thoughts.

The best thing to do if you ever feel like a sentence feels weird is to have somebody else read it and tell you what they think it means.  If they got it right, you're probably fine.  If they got it wrong, try again. Get the input to understand what it is they did think and what about your words made them think that. If you struggle over and over and just can't make 'and' or whatever other connector work, then drop it and split the thoughts into two sentences.