Meaning of 居然
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- unexpectedly
- to one's surprise
- go so far as to
How to use 居然
居然 is an adverb placed before the verb or verb phrase to show that something happened against your expectations, often with surprise, disbelief, or mild annoyance. 他居然忘了我的生日。(Tā jūrán wàng le wǒ de shēngrì.) He actually forgot my birthday.
居 (jū) means to reside or be in a position, and 然 (rán) means so or like this. Picture someone who lives right next to you, and you find out they are actually like this: 居然, to your surprise.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 居然 with 突然 (tūrán) or 忽然 (hūrán). Those mean something happened suddenly, while 居然 means it was unexpected, so 他居然来了 means 'he actually came' and does not mean 'he came suddenly.' Also, 居然 must go after the subject and before the verb, so say 他居然走了 and avoid putting it at the start of the sentence.
居然 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
居 jū · to live · 8 strokes
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然 rán · certainly · 12 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 居然.
| 然后 | ránhòu | then; after that; afterwards |
| 虽然 | suīrán | although; even though (often used correlatively with 可是[ke3 shi4] or 但是[dan4 shi4] etc) |
| 大自然 | dàzìrán | nature (the natural world) |
| 忽然 | hūrán | suddenly; all of a sudden |
| 当然 | dāngrán | only natural; as it should be |
| 突然 | tūrán | sudden; abrupt; unexpected |
| 仍然 | réngrán | still; as before; yet |
| 显然 | xiǎnrán | clearly; evidently; obviously |
| 自然 | zìrán | nature; natural |
| 果然 | guǒrán | really; sure enough |
| 必然 | bìrán | inevitable; certain |
| 不然 | bùrán | not so; no |
Questions about 居然
What does 居然 mean?
居然 (jūrán) means "unexpectedly; to one's surprise" and is used as a adverb.
How do you write 居然?
居然 is made of 2 characters: 居 (8 strokes), 然 (12 strokes). That is 20 strokes in total.
Is 居然 an HSK word?
Yes. 居然 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 居然 and 竟然?
They mean almost the same thing and are often interchangeable. 竟然 (jìngrán) can sound a bit stronger or more formal, while 居然 is very common in everyday speech.
Can 居然 express a positive surprise?
Yes. It can mark pleasant surprises, as in 我居然考了一百分 (wǒ jūrán kǎo le yìbǎi fēn), I actually got a hundred points. The tone depends on context. It can also signal disapproval, as in 'he went so far as to lie.'