English–Chinese

“suddenly” in Chinese

Chinese

Also忽然 (hū rán) · 猛然 (měng rán) · 骤然 (zhòu rán)

Pronunciation

Pinyintū rán

Example

他突然来了。tā tū rán lái le

He suddenly came.

Illustration for 突然 (suddenly)

How to say “suddenly” in Chinese

“Suddenly” in Chinese is 突然 (tū rán).

A stable situation is interrupted by a new event before anyone has time to prepare.

Full entry for 突然: usage tips, similar words and word origin

Example sentences with 突然

他突然笑了。tā tū rán xiào le

He suddenly laughed.

Tips for using 突然

  • 突然 (tūrán, "suddenly") usually comes before the verb or adjective it modifies, making the timing of the change easy to spot in a Chinese sentence.

Other Chinese words for “suddenly”

我忽然想起一件事。wǒ hū rán xiáng qǐ yí jiàn shì

I suddenly remembered something.

3

猛然

měng rán

adverbsuddenly

车猛然停住了。chē měng rán tíng zhù le

The car suddenly stopped.

4

骤然

zhòu rán

adverbsuddenly

他骤然倒下了。tā zhòu rán dǎo xià le

He suddenly collapsed.

“suddenly” in other languages