忽
然

About

The word "忽然" is formed through the combination of two characters: "忽", which carries the core meaning of "sudden" or "swift", and "然", a classical suffix that attaches to adjectives or adverbial ideas to mean "-ly" or "in such a manner". Together, they fuse conceptually, with "然" formally converting the notion of suddenness from "忽" into a stable, standalone adverb meaning "suddenly" or "all at once".

Example Sentences Hide

天气忽然变冷了。

Tiānqì hūrán biàn lěng le.

The weather suddenly turned cold.

他忽然想起一件事。

Tā hūrán xiǎng qǐ yī jiàn shì.

He suddenly remembered something.

我正在看书，忽然灯灭了。

Wǒ zhèngzài kàn shū, hūrán dēng miè le.

I was reading a book when suddenly the light went out.

那个孩子忽然高兴地跳了起来。

Nà gè háizi hūrán gāoxìng de tiào le qǐlái.

That child suddenly jumped up happily.

会议进行到一半，主席忽然宣布休会。

Huìyì jìnxíng dào yībàn, zhǔxí hūrán xuānbù xiūhuì.

The meeting was halfway through when the chairman suddenly announced an adjournment.

Word Definition - 忽然

hū rán suddenly; all of a sudden

Individual Character Details

忽 hū, hū
然 rán