Meaning of 忽然
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- suddenly; all of a sudden
How to use 忽然
忽然 is an adverb placed before the verb or at the start of a clause to describe something unexpected. Example: 天忽然下雨了。(Tiān hūrán xià yǔ le.) It suddenly started to rain.
忽 (hū) has 心 (xīn, heart) at the bottom, and 然 (rán) is a common ending meaning "in this way." Picture your heart jumping when something happens in a sudden way.
Common mistake: Learners often use 忽然 as an adjective like 突然 (tūrán), saying 很忽然 or 忽然的事情. 忽然 is only an adverb, so say 很突然 (very sudden) or 突然的事情 (a sudden event) instead.
忽然 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.
忽 hū · suddenly · 8 strokes
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然 rán · certainly · 12 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 忽然.
| 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) |
| 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 |
| 既然 | jìrán | since; as; this being the case |
Questions about 忽然
What does 忽然 mean?
忽然 (hūrán) means "suddenly; all of a sudden" and is used as a adverb.
How do you write 忽然?
忽然 is made of 2 characters: 忽 (8 strokes), 然 (12 strokes). That is 20 strokes in total.
Is 忽然 an HSK word?
Yes. 忽然 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 忽然 and 突然?
Both can mean "suddenly" before a verb. 突然 can also be an adjective, as in 这件事很突然 (This was very sudden), while 忽然 cannot. 突然 also tends to feel a bit stronger and more abrupt.
Where does 忽然 go in a sentence?
It usually comes after the subject and before the verb, as in 他忽然笑了 (He suddenly laughed). It can also start the sentence, as in 忽然，灯灭了 (Suddenly, the lights went out).