Writing
居然 (jū rán) — how to say "unexpectedly" in Chinese
居然
Unexpectedly, to one's surprise
modal adverb
How to use it
Goes before the verb and shows the speaker's attitude.
他居然考了第一。
tā jū rán kǎo le dì yī
Surprisingly, he came first in the exam.
Character composition
居
to live
然
so, however
Radicals / Keys
尸
Corpse
#44 · shī · 3 strokes
火
Fire
#86 · huǒ · 4 strokes
Synonyms
Collocations
居然不知道
jūrán bù zhīdào
unexpectedly not know
居然成功
jūrán chénggōng
unexpectedly succeed
居然忘了
jūrán wàngle
unexpectedly forget
Examples
这么难的考试，他居然得了满分，大家都非常惊讶。
To everyone's surprise, he got a perfect score on such a difficult exam.
他居然来了。
He actually came.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say "unexpectedly" in Chinese?
"unexpectedly" in Chinese is 居然 (jū rán).
居然 meaning in English
居然 (jū rán) means "Unexpectedly, to one's surprise".
How is 居然 pronounced?
It is pronounced jū rán (written as ju ran, juran). You can listen to the pronunciation on this page.
How do you write "unexpectedly" in Chinese characters?
It is written 居然: 居 has 8 strokes, 然 has 12 strokes. The Writing section above animates the stroke order of each character and lets you trace it.
What HSK level is 居然?
居然 belongs to the HSK 5 vocabulary list.
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