Chinese word

既然

Pronunciation

Pinyinjì rán

Meaning

  • conjunctionsince

Example

既然你不来，我们就自己去吧。jì rán nǐ bù lái wǒ men jiù zì jǐ qù ba

Since you aren't coming, we'll go by ourselves.

Illustration for 既然 (since)

More examples

既然大家都同意，那就开始吧。jì rán dà jiā dōu tóng yì nà jiù kāi shǐ ba

Since everyone agrees, let's begin.

Core concept

An accepted fact serves as the starting point for a resulting decision or action.

Common phrases

  • 既然...就...jì rán jiù

    since ___, ___

  • 既然如此jì rán rú cǐ

    since this is so

Similar words

因为yīn wèi: Gives the reason that explains an event or situation.
所以suó yǐ: Presents the outcome that follows from a cause or reason.
由于yóu yú: Shows that a circumstance or cause brings about a result, especially in formal language.
因此yīn cǐ: Draws a conclusion from a reason that has just been given.

Definition in Chinese

表示根据已存在的事实或理由，提出下文的结论或处理，常与“就”“那”“那就”连用。biǎo shì gēn jù yǐ cún zài de shì shí huò lǐ yóu tí chū xià wén de jié lùn huò chú lǐ cháng yǔ jiù nà nà jiù lián yòng

Word origin

既 (jì, "already") + 然 (rán, "so") means that something is already so, forming a conjunction that sets up what follows.

Usage tips

  • In everyday speech, 既然 (jìrán, "given that") commonly comes before 就 (jiù, "then") or 那就 (nà jiù, "then"), making the move from premise to action sound compact.

Other meanings

  • now thatconjunction

Word lists with this word