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难怪 (nán guài) — (adverb) no wonder, not surprising (that...); (verb) cannot blame, it's understandable (that...)

Definition

难怪 and 怪不得 are nearly interchangeable ('no wonder'). In the 'can't blame' sense, 难怪 needs an object (难怪他) while 怪不得 can be used alone.

adverb
no wondernot surprising (that...)
verb
cannot blameit's understandable (that...)

Examples

  • 难怪，。
    nán guài Tā jīn tiān zhè me gāo xìng, yuán lái tā kǎo le dì yī míng.
    No wonder he's so happy today — it turns out he got first place.
  • 难怪，。
    nán guài Wài miàn zhè me lěng, yuán lái xià xuě le.
    No wonder it's so cold outside — it snowed.
  • ，难怪，。
    Tā chí dào le, dàn zhè yě nán guài tā, lù shang dǔ chē le.
    He was late, but you can't blame him — there was a traffic jam on the road.

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.

难nánhard
怪guàiblame

难 means hard and 怪 means blame; if something is hard to blame, it is understandable.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 難; 难 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
隹隹zhuībird
Sound part声符shēngfú
暵
暵hàn難nán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional 難 pairs 隹, a bird, with 暵 for sound, and meant a type of bird. It was later borrowed for other meanings; the modern 难 is a shorthand.

Open 难 →

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
忄Written in full as心xīn
Sound part声符shēngfú
圣
圣shèng怪guài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

怪 is built from 忄, a form of 心, which relates to mind or feeling, and 圣, which gives the sound.

Open 怪 →

Grammar

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 5Cause, Effect & Logic5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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