HSK 4 · Function Words

既然 jìrán “since” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 既然 means

  1. since
  2. as
  3. this being the case

How to say 既然

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale既jì4th 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

既然 in a sentence

  1. 既然你要去超市，那就顺便买些鸡蛋吧。

    Jìrán nǐ yào qù chāoshì, nà jiù shùnbiàn mǎi xiē jīdàn ba.

    Since you’re going to the supermarket, buy some eggs while you’re there.

    Sentence #406186 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 既然雨已经停了，我们可以回家了。

    Jìrán yǔ yǐjīng tíng le, wǒmen kěyǐ huíjiā le.

    Now that it’s stopped raining, we can go home.

    Sentence #341928 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 你既然已经知道了，还问什么？

    Nǐ jìrán yǐjīng zhīdao le, hái wèn shénme?

    Since you already know, why are you still asking?

    Sentence #3538037 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 既然 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 既 (jì) drawn as one shape
既jìalready

既 is a single shape of 9 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

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 既然

既 9 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.

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

Words related to 既然

Words with 既

一如既往yìrújìwǎng · as always

Words with 然

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

More words: Particles & Connectors

互相hùxiāng · each other接着jiēzhe · next及时jíshí · timely即使jíshǐ · even if尽管jǐnguǎn · despite竟然jìngrán · unexpectedly棵kē · measure word for trees and plants可是kěshì · but

FAQs

既然 (jìrán) means “since” or “as”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it jìrán: jì 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. 既然 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type jiran with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 既然 from the suggestions. Typing jiran into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
既然 is an HSK 4 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.