然则

然則

ránzé

conjunction #48,756

Meanings

Ránzé wǒmen yīnggāi rúhé chǔlǐ zhè jiàn shì?

That being the case, how should we handle this matter?

Ránzé cǐ shì bùkě bù chá.

In that case, this matter cannot go uninvestigated.

然则 is literary/classical and rarely used in casual speech. Modern equivalents are 那么 (nàme) or 那 (nà) for 'then / in that case'.

history

Famous from the Song-dynasty essay 岳阳楼记 by 范仲淹 (Fàn Zhòngyān): 然则何时而乐耶 'Then when shall they be glad?'

然 rán

则 zé