HSK 6 · Function Words

固然 gùrán “admittedly” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 固然 means

  1. admittedly
  2. it is true that
  3. admittedly (it’s true that…)

How to say 固然

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale固gù4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale然rán2nd tone, rising

固然 in a sentence

  1. 信任固然好,管控也很重要。

    Xìnrèn gùrán hǎo, guǎnkòng yě hěn zhòngyào.

    Trust is good, but control matters too.

    Sentence #14062647 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 你固然是错了,但也不能怪你。

    Nǐ gùrán shì cuò le, dàn yě bù néng guài nǐ.

    Admittedly you were wrong, but you can’t be blamed for it.

    Sentence #393700 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 固然 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 固 (gù) with each of its parts in a different colour
固gùhard
  • 囗enclosure · wéiMeaning part
  • 古old · gǔSound part

囗 hints at the meaning (enclosure); 古 (gǔ) hints at the sound. Compare it with gù.

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 固然

固 8 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.

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

Words related to 固然

Words with 固

Words with 然

More words: Function Words & Grammar

FAQs

固然 (gùrán) means “admittedly” or “it is true that”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it gùrán: gù with a 4th 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.
Yes. 固然 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type guran with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 固然 from the suggestions. Typing guran into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
固然 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

A dictionary gives you the words. A native teacher shows you how to use them. Start with a free 30-minute intro call.

Book a free intro call

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.