然 (rán): nature, thus
然 (rán) is a Chinese character meaning “nature, thus.” Classified as HSK Level 2 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 肰 (phonetic) and 灬 (semantic). It ranks #55 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 然 fire. Its radical form 灬 (fire) appears in many related characters such as 点 (diǎn, point, o'clock), 热 (rè, hot, to heat), 照 (zhào, shine, according to).
Definitions
- nature, thus
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 然 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 然
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 然后conjunction | rán hòu | then | 3 |
| 当然adverb | dāng rán | only natural | 3 |
| 虽然conjunction | suī rán | although | 2 |
| 突然adjective | tū rán | sudden | 3 |
| 显然adjective | xiǎn rán | clearly | 5 |
| 仍然adverb | réng rán | still | 4 |
| 居然adverb | jū rán | unexpectedly | 5 |
| 既然conjunction | jì rán | since | 4 |
| 不然conjunction/adjective | bù rán | not so | 5 |
| 自然noun/adjective/adverb | zì rán | nature | 4 |
| 竟然adverb | jìng rán | unexpectedly | 4 |
| 然而conjunction | rán ér | however | 4 |
| 依然adverb | yī rán | still | 5 |
| 果然adverb | guǒ rán | really | 5 |
| 要不然conjunction | yào bù rán | otherwise | 5 |
| 偶然adjective | ǒu rán | incidentally | 5 |
| 忽然adverb | hū rán | suddenly | 4 |
| 大自然noun | dà zì rán | nature (the natural world) | 4 |
| 必然adjective/noun | bì rán | inevitable | 5 |
| 天然adjective | tiān rán | natural | 6 |
| 天然气noun | tiān rán qì | natural gas | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 理所当然 | lǐ suǒ dāng rán | as it should be by rights (idiom) |
| 截然不同phrase | jié rán bù tóng | entirely different |
| 安然adjective | ān rán | calmly |
| 全然adverb | quán rán | completely |
| 安然无恙 | ān rán wú yàng | safe and sound (idiom) |
| 自然而然 | zì rán ér rán | (idiom) natural |
| 公然adverb | gōng rán | openly |
| 焕然一新phrase | huàn rán yī xīn | to look completely new (idiom) |
| 已然adverb | yǐ rán | already |
然 appears in 113 compound words: 3 as the first character, 90 as the last, and 7 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 然 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (54)
to not accept as correct; to disagree; to object; to disapprove; to not care; to not regard as important
to take preventative measures before a disaster occurs; to prevent trouble before it happens
Showing 12 of 54 idioms containing 然.
Example Sentences
虽然这次项目遇到了很多困难，但团队依然按时完成了任务。
Suīrán zhè cì xiàngmù yù dào le hěn duō kùnnán, dàn tuánduì yīrán ànshí wánchéng le rènwu.
Although this project encountered many difficulties, the team still completed the task on time.
賴總統:合憲前提下 欣然赴立院報告
賴 總 統 gě 憲 qián tí xià xīn rán fù lì yuàn 報 gào
President Lai: Willingly Report to the Legislative Yuan Under Constitutional Preconditions
《經濟》達拉斯聯儲:德州製造業增長依然穩健
經 濟 達 lā sī 聯 儲 dé zhōu 製 zào 業 zēng 長 yī rán 穩 jiàn
Economy: Dallas Fed: Texas Manufacturing Growth Remains Steady
許光漢日本新片突然停拍 製作公司親解原因
許 guāng 漢 rì běn xīn piàn tū rán tíng pāi 製 zuò gōng sī 親 jiě yuán yīn
Hsu Kuang-han's New Japanese Film Suddenly Halts Production; Production Company Explains Reason
巴菲特執掌的最後一季 波克夏上季依然賣超美股
bā 菲 tè 執 zhǎng de zuì 後 yī jì bō kè xià shàng jì yī rán 賣 chāo měi gǔ
Warren Buffett's Last Quarter at the Helm Polkshares Still Outperformed U.S. Stocks Last Quarter
突然火了!今年春节流行做“黄金甲”,有人花了...
tū rán huǒ le ! jīn nián chūn jié liú háng zuò huáng jīn jiǎ , yǒu rén huā le . . .
Suddenly it's on fire! This year's Spring Festival is popular to do "gold armor", some people spend...
你竟然做出那样的事来，你还是人吗？
Nǐ jìngrán zuòchū nàyàng de shì lái, nǐ háishi rén ma?
It is wicked of you to do such things.
你们做饭用天然气还是用电？
Nǐmen zuòfàn yòng tiānránqì háishi yòng diàn?
Do you cook by gas or electricity?
刚才天气还很好，怎么会突然下雨了呢？
Gāngcái tiānqì hái hěn hǎo, zěnme huì tūrán xiàyǔ le ne?
The weather was great just a moment ago. How is it suddenly raining now?
你既然已经知道了，还问什么？
Nǐ jìrán yǐjīng zhīdào le, hái wèn shénme?
If you already know, why are you still asking?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 然 (rán) mean in Chinese?
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What characters sound the same as 然 (rán)?
Is 然 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 然 with real-time feedback
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