居然 jūrán unexpectedly
unexpectedly; to one's surprise; go so far as to
How to remember 居然: 居 to live + 然 however = unexpectedly.
Characters
How it is used
- An adverb of surprise - "unexpectedly / actually," that something went so far: 他居然赢了 (tā jūrán yíng le) he actually won (against expectation).
- Marks the speaker's astonishment at an unlikely fact.
- Near-synonym 竟然 (jìngrán) is almost interchangeable; both stress "surprisingly, contrary to what you'd think."
Example sentences
- 让我出乎意料的是，他居然很会唱歌。 Ràng wǒ chūhūyìliào de shì, tā jūrán hěnhuì chànggē.To my surprise, he was good at singing.
- 我仍旧无法相信我居然做了这种事。 Wǒ réngjiù wúfǎ xiāngxìn wǒ jūrán zuò le zhèzhǒng shì.I still can't believe I did it.