Chinese word

意料

Pronunciation

Pinyinyì liào

Meaning

  • verbexpect

Example

我没意料到他会迟到。wǒ méi yì liào dào tā huì chí dào

I didn't expect him to be late.

Illustration for 意料 (expect)

More examples

我们早就意料到他会提出这样的要求。wǒ men zǎo jiù yì liào dào tā huì tí chū zhè yàng de yāo qiú

We had long expected him to make such a demand.

Core concept

Builds a mental forecast of how events may unfold and what result may appear.

Common phrases

  • 早就意料到zǎo jiù yì liào dào

    have long expected

  • 谁也意料不到shuí yě yì liào bú dào

    no one could have expected

  • 很难意料到hěn nán yì liào dào

    hard to anticipate

Similar words

估计gū jì: To make a rough judgment about a quantity or possibility from clues or experience.
预计yù jì: To estimate a future result or time in advance from current conditions or information.
预测yù cè: To forecast future developments or results using data or a method.
料到liào dào: To anticipate in one's mind that an event will happen.

Definition in Chinese

在心里估计事情将如何发展或可能出现的结果。zài xīn lǐ gū jì shì qíng jiāng rú hé fā zhǎn huò kě néng chū xiàn de jié guǒ

Word origin

意 (yì, "thought") + 料 (liào, "estimate") joins thought with measuring, giving the word its sense of judging a possible outcome in advance.

Usage tips

  • The headword is more common in formal or fixed expressions than as a casual standalone verb, so everyday conversation often uses fuller conversational wording for the same idea.

Other meanings

  • expectationnoun

Related words

  • 意料不到yì liào bú dàounexpectedadjective
  • 意料之中yì liào zhī zhōngas expectedidiom

Word lists with this word