Chinese–EnglishWith examples

意想不到

yì xiǎng bù dào · yi xiang bu dao

Same in simplified and traditional Chinese

HSK 6

Meaning

CC-CEDICT
  1. unexpected
  2. previously unimagined
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In a conversation

0:18 cartoon

An old classmate

  1. Liangliang

    我(wǒ)今天(jīntiān)遇到(yùdào)了(le)一件(yījiàn)意想不到(yìxiǎngbùdào)的(de)事(shì)。

    Something unexpected happened to me today.

  2. Dengdeng

    什么(shénme)事(shì)？

    What happened?

  3. Liangliang

    我(wǒ)在(zài)地铁上(dìtiěshàng)碰到(pèngdào)了(le)小学(xiǎoxué)同学(tóngxué)！

    I bumped into a primary school classmate on the subway!

  4. Dengdeng

    真的(zhēnde)？太(tài)意想不到(yìxiǎngbùdào)了(le)！

    Really? How unexpected!

  5. Liangliang

    更(gèng)意想不到(yìxiǎngbùdào)的(de)是(shì)，他(tā)住在(zhùzài)我家(wǒjiā)隔壁(gébì)三年(sānnián)了(le)！

    Even more unexpected, he has lived next door to me for three years!

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In a sentence

2 examples
01

一(yì)时(shí)失(shī)言(yán)常(cháng)常(cháng)会(huì)带(dài)来(lái)意(yì)想(xiǎng)不(bu)到(dào)的(de)结(jié)果(guǒ)。

A slip of the tongue often brings about unexpected results.

Tatoeba: Chinese by nickyeow · English by CM · CC BY 2.0 FR. Simplified Chinese conversion; Pinyin added or corrected.

02

一(yì)点(diǎn)点(diǎn)的(de)运(yùn)气(qi)有(yǒu)时(shí)会(huì)导(dǎo)致(zhì)意(yì)想(xiǎng)不(bu)到(dào)的(de)成(chéng)功(gōng)。

A little bit of luck sometimes leads to an unexpected success.

Tatoeba: Chinese by Martha · English by CK · CC BY 2.0 FR. Simplified Chinese conversion; 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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