HSK 3 · Time

当然 dāngrán “of course” in Chinese

Traditional 當然

What 当然 means

  1. of course
  2. naturally
  3. only natural
  4. as it should be
  5. certainly
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • without doubt

How to say 当然

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale当dāng1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale然rán2nd tone, rising

当然 in a sentence

  1. 老师说：“当然可以。”

    Lǎoshī shuō: “Dāngrán kěyǐ.”

    The teacher said, “Of course.”

    Sentence #397902 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. “你喜欢蛇吗？”“当然不喜欢。”

    “Nǐ xǐhuan shé ma?” “Dāngrán bù xǐhuan.”

    “Do you like snakes?” “Of course not.”

    Sentence #399896 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 当然，我现在就去找。

    Dāngrán, wǒ xiànzài jiù qù zhǎo.

    Of course. I’ll go and look for it right now.

    Sentence #8969816 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 当然 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 当 (dāng) with each of its parts in a different colour
当dāngdong
  • ⺌small form of 小 · xiǎo
  • 彐snout · jì
The character 然 (rán) with each of its parts in a different colour
然ráncorrect
  • 肰dog meat · ránSound part
  • 灬fire form of 火 · huǒMeaning part

灬 hints at the meaning (fire); 肰 (rán) hints at the sound. Compare it with rán.

Memory aidFire 灬 under meat 肰. Its first meaning was “to burn”, now written 燃 (rán).

How to write 当然

当 6 strokes · 然 12 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

当然 (dāngrán) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 当然 (dāngrán). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 当然

Words with 当

当dāng · to act as当时dāngshí · then当地dāngdì · local当心dāngxīn · to be careful上当shàngdàng · to be fooled相当xiāngdāng · equivalent to当场dāngchǎng · on the spot当初dāngchū · originally当代dāngdài · contemporary当前dāngqián · current

Words with 然

虽然suīrán · although突然tūrán · sudden然后ránhòu · then自然zìrán · nature既然jìrán · since竟然jìngrán · unexpectedly然而rán'ér · however仍然réngrán · still必然bìrán · inevitable不然bùrán · otherwise

More words: Time

还hái · still就jiù · then半bàn · half春chūn · spring season冬dōng · winter刚才gāngcái · just now后来hòulái · afterwards几乎jīhū · almost

FAQs

当然 (dāngrán) means “of course” or “naturally”. It is an HSK 3 word.
Say it dāngrán: dāng with a 1st tone, then rán with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 当然 is written 當然. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type dangran with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 当然 from the suggestions. Typing dangran into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
当然 is an HSK 3 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.