ǒu rán
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Chinese dictionary
Show pinyin

  • 1

    adj.accidental; unplanned

    • zhè wán quán shì yī cì ǒu rán de huì jiàn

      完全偶然会见

      It was an accidental meeting.

    • tā shì wǒ ǒu rán rèn shi de rén

      偶然认识

      He is my incidental acquaintance.

    • chū xiàn zhè zhǒng wèn tí jué bù shì ǒu rán de

      出现问题偶然

      The occurrence of such things is by no means fortuitous.

  • 2

    adv.once in a while; accidentally; occasionally

    • wǒ zhǐ shì ǒu rán qù cì wǔ tīng

      只是偶然舞厅

      I visited the ballroom only occasionally.

    • nào shì li ǒu rán yě néng tīng jiàn jǐ shēng niǎo míng

      闹市偶然听见鸟鸣

      Occasionally birds can be heard in the downtown area.

Word usage

  • Note
    "偶然" different from 偶尔", ". "偶然" emphasizes accidents, which is beyond the norm, and is opposite to "必然"; "偶尔" emphasizes occurrence or occurrence less frequently, as opposed to "经常".