难道 (nán dào) — used in rhetorical questions to express surprise or disbelief: 'could it be that…', 'don't tell me…'
Definition
难道 leads a rhetorical question when the speaker is surprised or doubts the answer is yes (often implying 'surely not'). Versus 莫非, it carries a stronger tone of disbelief; 莫非 sounds more like a polite speculation.
adverb
used in rhetorical questions to express surprise or disbelief: 'could it be that…''don't tell me…'
Examples
- 难道？nán dào Nǐ zhēn de xiāng xìn tā ma?Don't tell me you actually believe him?
- 难道？nán dào Zhè cì kǎo shì hěn nán ma?Could it be that this exam is really hard?
- 难道？nán dào Zhè jiàn shì jiù zhè yàng jié shù le?You mean this matter just ended like that?
Grammar
Appears in
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