suddenly; sudden
HSK level
突然 is written with 21 strokes (突: 9, 然: 12). The animation replays automatically.
突然 (tūrán) means 'suddenly' or 'sudden' — describing something that happens without warning.
It functions as both adverb and adjective: 他突然走了 ('he suddenly left'), 这件事很突然 ('this matter was very sudden'). Placement is flexible — 突然 can sit before the verb (most common: 他突然哭了 'he suddenly cried') or at the start of a sentence to frame what follows (突然，电话响了 'Suddenly, the phone rang'). English speakers often default to 'suddenly' at sentence end, but in Chinese 突然 rarely comes last.
The 然 ending marks 突然 as a manner word (compare 当然 'of course,' 忽然 'all of a sudden'). For a slightly more written / abrupt feel, use 忽然 (hūrán); they overlap heavily, but 突然 also takes the adjectival role that 忽然 cannot.
Character by character
Memory hook: 突 = bursting out; 然 = '-ly' — bursting-out-ly = suddenly.
突然 appears in 1 Fluentide podcast episode at natural native speed — each with the full Chinese script, pinyin, and line-by-line English translation.
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Tā tūrán zhàn le qǐlái.
He suddenly stood up.
neutral
外面突然下起了大雨。
Wàimiàn tūrán xià qǐ le dà yǔ.
It suddenly started pouring outside.
neutral
这个消息太突然了。
Zhè ge xiāoxi tài tūrán le.
This news is too sudden.
spoken
我突然想起来还没吃饭。
Wǒ tūrán xiǎng qǐlái hái méi chī fàn.
I suddenly remembered I haven't eaten yet.
spoken
忽然 means the same 'suddenly' as adverb but cannot be used as adjective (you can say 很突然 'very sudden' but NOT 很忽然). For adverbial use they're interchangeable.
一下子 is the casual spoken 'all at once / in one go,' often with a sense of quickness. 突然 emphasizes the unexpectedness; 一下子 emphasizes the speed.
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