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必然 (bì rán) — (adjective) inevitable, certain; (noun) inevitability, necessity

Definition

必然 describes an outcome that must happen because of how things work — not just a guess. Unlike 一定 (a speaker's strong feeling that something will happen), 必然 is about objective certainty.

adjective
inevitablecertain
noun
inevitabilitynecessity

Examples

  • 必然。
    Jīng jì fā zhǎn yǒu bì rán de qū shì.
    Economic development has an inevitable trend.
  • 必然，。
    Shī bài bìng bú shì bì rán de, zhǐ yào nǐ nǔ lì jiù néng gǎi biàn.
    Failure is not inevitable; as long as you work hard, you can change it.
  • 。
    Wǒ men yào zhèng què kàn dài shì wù de bì rán xìng.
    We need to correctly view the inevitability of things.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

必bìcertain
然ránso

必 means certain, 然 means so; together they express that something is bound to be so.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 必 comes from the handle on the right side of a weapon, with two extra strokes added to its sides.

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Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
火火huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
肰
肰rán然rán
Same sound today

然 is made from 肰, which gives the sound, and 火, which shows fire, matching the old sense 'to burn'.

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Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 5Abstract Concepts

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