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刹那间

剎那間
chànàjiān
adverb #37,013

Meanings

  1. 1 in an instant; in a flash
  2. 2 in the blink of an eye
  3. 3 all of a sudden

Examples

HSK 3
刹那间他明白了一切。
Chànàjiān tā míngbái le yíqiè.
In a flash he understood everything.
HSK 6
刹那间，烟花照亮了整个夜空。
Chànàjiān, yānhuā zhàoliàng le zhěnggè yèkōng.
In an instant, the fireworks lit up the entire night sky.
HSK 6
刹那间，房子就被洪水冲走了。
Chànàjiān, fángzi jiù bèi hóngshuǐ chōngzǒu le.
In an instant, the house was washed away by the flood.

Tips

history
刹那 is a transliteration of Sanskrit क्षण (kṣaṇa), the Buddhist unit of the smallest perceptible moment. Classical commentaries reckoned 75 刹那 to a 念, and several 念 to a single second - so 刹那 is poetically 'a flash too short to measure'. The 间 'between / interval' rounds it into the adverbial sense 'within that flash'.
usage
刹那间 is more dramatic and literary than 突然 'suddenly' or 一下子 'all at once'. Note: 刹 here is read chà (not shā 'to brake'); the 刹 in 刹车 'brake' is a different reading of the same character.

Stroke Order

刹 shā
那 nà
间 jiān