Writing
不料 (bú liào) — how to say "unexpectedly" in Chinese
不料
Unexpectedly, contrary to expectations
conjunction joining clauses
How to use it
Joins the parts of a complex sentence, often paired with another conjunction.
不料下雨了，我们没去。
bú liào xià yǔ le wǒ men méi qù
Unexpectedly it rained, so we didn't go.
Character composition
不
not, no
料
to expect, material
Radicals / Keys
斗
Dipper
#68 · dǒu · 4 strokes
一
One
#1 · yī · 1 stroke
Synonyms
Examples
我们计划去公园，不料天气突然变坏了。
We planned to go to the park, but unexpectedly the weather suddenly turned bad.
不料下雨了。
It started raining unexpectedly.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say "unexpectedly" in Chinese?
"unexpectedly" in Chinese is 不料 (bú liào).
Bu liao meaning in Chinese
不料 (bú liào) means "Unexpectedly, contrary to expectations".
How is 不料 pronounced?
It is pronounced bú liào (written as bu liao, buliao). You can listen to the pronunciation on this page.
How do you write "unexpectedly" in Chinese characters?
It is written 不料: 不 has 4 strokes, 料 has 10 strokes. The Writing section above animates the stroke order of each character and lets you trace it.
What HSK level is 不料?
不料 belongs to the HSK 6 vocabulary list.
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