顿然

頓然

dùnrán

adverb

Meanings

1 suddenly
2 abruptly
3 all of a sudden

Characters

pause / suddenly

-ly (adverbial suffix)

Examples

听到这话，他顿然明白了。

Tīng dào zhè huà, tā dùnrán míngbai le.

Hearing this, he suddenly understood.

天空顿然变得阴暗。

Tiānkōng dùnrán biàn de yīn'àn.

The sky abruptly turned dark.

Tips

register

Slightly literary. The everyday equivalents are 突然 (tūrán) and 忽然 (hūrán); 顿然 is preferred in writing where it carries a hint of 'in a flash, a switch flipped'.

Stroke Order

顿 dùn

然 rán