既然 meaning in English

jìrán

since; as; this being the case

HSK 4conjunction21 strokes

Meaning of 既然

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

jìrán

since; as; this being the case

How to use 既然

既然 introduces a fact both speakers accept, and the second clause gives a conclusion or suggestion, often with 就 (jiù) or 那 (nà). Example: 既然你累了，就早点睡吧。(Jìrán nǐ lèi le, jiù zǎodiǎn shuì ba.) Since you are tired, go to bed early.

既 (jì) means already, and 然 (rán) means so or like this. Together 既然 is "it is already so," which leads to "since this is the case."

Common mistake: Learners often use 既然 like 因为 (yīnwèi) to explain an unknown cause. 既然 needs a known or accepted fact followed by advice, a decision, or a question, so "既然下雨，我迟到了" sounds wrong. Also do not confuse 既 (jì) with 即 (jí), which looks similar.

既然 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

既jì然rán雨yǔ已yǐ经jīng停tíng了le, 我wǒ们men可kě以yǐ回huí家jiā了le.

Now that it has stopped raining, we can go home.

既jì然rán母mǔ亲qīn病bìng了le，我wǒ就jiù待dài在zài家jiā里lǐ没méi去qù上shàng学xué。

My mother being ill, I stayed home from school.

既jì然rán你nǐ要yào去qù超chāo市shì，那nà就jiù顺shùn便biàn买mǎi些xiē鸡jī蛋dàn吧ba。

Since you're going to the supermarket, buy some eggs while you're there.

你nǐ既jì然rán已yǐ经jīng知zhī道dào了le，还hái问wèn什shén么me？

If you already know, why are you still asking?

既jì然rán你nǐ们men这zhè么me说shuō，那nà让ràng我wǒ再zài想xiǎng想xiǎng。

Since you all say that, I must think again.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

既 jì · already · 9 strokes

然 rán · certainly · 12 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 既然.

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 既然

What does 既然 mean?

既然 (jìrán) means "since; as; this being the case" and is used as a conjunction.

How do you write 既然?

既然 is made of 2 characters: 既 (9 strokes), 然 (12 strokes). That is 21 strokes in total.

Is 既然 an HSK word?

Yes. 既然 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

What is the difference between 既然 and 因为?

因为 gives a reason, often new information, for a result. 既然 starts from a fact already known to both people and draws a conclusion, often a suggestion or question. For example, 既然你不想去，那就别去了 (Since you don't want to go, then don't).

Can 既然 come after the subject?

Yes. Both 既然你来了 and 你既然来了 are correct and mean "since you have come." Putting the subject first is very common in speech.