Chinese–EnglishWith examples

居然

jū rán · ju ran

Same in simplified and traditional Chinese

HSK 5

Meaning

CC-CEDICT
  1. unexpectedly
  2. to one's surprise
  3. go so far as to
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In a conversation

0:18 cartoon

A familiar face

  1. Liangliang

    我(wǒ)今天(jīntiān)居然(jūrán)遇到(yùdào)了(le)小学(xiǎoxué)同学(tóngxué)！

    I unexpectedly met a primary school classmate today!

  2. Dengdeng

    真(zhēn)的(de)吗(ma)？在(zài)哪儿(nǎr)？

    Really? Where?

  3. Liangliang

    在(zài)地铁(dìtiě)上(shàng)，他(tā)居然(jūrán)也(yě)认出(rènchū)我(wǒ)了(le)。

    On the subway. He even recognized me.

  4. Dengdeng

    你们(nǐmen)十年(shínián)没(méi)见(jiàn)了(le)，居然(jūrán)还(hái)认得出(rèndechū)。

    You haven't seen each other for ten years, and you still recognized each other.

  5. Liangliang

    可是(kěshì)我(wǒ)居然(jūrán)想(xiǎng)不起(bùqǐ)他(tā)的(de)名字(míngzi)。

    But I actually can't remember his name.

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In a sentence

2 examples
01

我(wǒ)很(hěn)惊(jīng)讶(yà)，你(nǐ)家(jiā)居(jū)然(rán)有(yǒu)辆(liàng)日(rì)本(běn)车(chē)。

I am surprised that your family has a Japanese car.

Tatoeba: Chinese by jiangche · English by CC · CC BY 2.0 FR. Pinyin added or corrected.

02

我(wǒ)没(méi)想(xiǎng)到(dào)今(jīn)天(tiān)居(jū)然(rán)会(huì)哭(kū)的(de)。

I never expected I would end up crying today.

Tatoeba: Chinese by mirrorvan · English by JimmyUK · CC BY 2.0 FR. Pinyin added or corrected.

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Mainland China stroke order, including traditional characters. Drawing sources & licenses.

Definitions adapted from CC-CEDICT, published by MDBG and its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Pinyin display and entry grouping have been adapted.

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