Meaning of 必然
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- inevitable
- certain
- necessity
How to use 必然
必然 describes results or trends that are bound to happen. It often appears as 必然的 before a noun, or directly before a verb as an adverb. Example: 努力学习必然会有进步。(Nǔlì xuéxí bìrán huì yǒu jìnbù.) If you study hard, you will certainly make progress.
必 (bì) means "must" and 然 (rán) means "so" or "like this". Put them together: something that must be so is inevitable.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 必然 with 必须 (bìxū). 必须 means a person has to do something, as in 你必须去 (you must go). 必然 means something is certain to happen, so 你必然去 sounds wrong when you mean an obligation.
必然 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.
必 bì · certainly · 5 strokes
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然 rán · certainly · 12 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 必然.
| 然后 | ránhòu | then; after that; afterwards |
| 必须 | bìxū | must; to have to |
| 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 |
| 必要 | bìyào | necessary; essential |
| 不必 | bùbì | need not; does not have to |
| 显然 | xiǎnrán | clearly; evidently; obviously |
| 自然 | zìrán | nature; natural |
Questions about 必然
What does 必然 mean?
必然 (bìrán) means "inevitable; certain" and is used as a adjective.
How do you write 必然?
必然 is made of 2 characters: 必 (5 strokes), 然 (12 strokes). That is 17 strokes in total.
Is 必然 an HSK word?
Yes. 必然 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 必然 and 当然?
当然 (dāngrán) means "of course" and expresses that something is obvious or agreed, often in conversation. 必然 is more formal and logical, stressing that a result follows inevitably from causes.
What is the opposite of 必然?
The usual opposite is 偶然 (ǒurán), meaning accidental or by chance. The pair 必然 and 偶然 is common when talking about whether an event was bound to happen or just happened by luck.