忽然
suddenly, all of a sudden
Structure
主语 + 忽然 + 动词 · 忽然 ，……
What it means
忽然 means “suddenly, all of a sudden”: one unexpected change, not a habit.
How it is built
Subject + 忽然 + verb (+ 了): 她忽然哭了 (She suddenly burst into tears). Or at the start, followed by a comma: 忽然，没电了.
When to use it
Use it when something new happens in a story or description. Because something has changed, the sentence often ends in 了: 今天忽然冷了.
Watch out
English can put “suddenly” at the end; Chinese can’t. ✗ 她哭了忽然。 ✓ 她忽然哭了。
Examples
她忽然哭了。
She suddenly burst into tears.
昨天还很热，今天忽然冷了。
Yesterday it was still hot, and today it suddenly turned cold.
我们正在吃饭，忽然，没电了。
We were having dinner when suddenly the power went off.
Learn this in HSK 2 · Lesson 21: 小时候 (Childhood)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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