HSK 5 · Function Words

难怪 nánguài “(it’s) no wonder (that…)” in Chinese

Traditional 難怪

What 难怪 means

  1. (it’s) no wonder (that…)
  2. (it’s) not surprising (that)

How to say 难怪

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale难nán2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale怪guài4th tone, falling

难怪 in a sentence

  1. 他得了肺炎，难怪他在不停的咳嗽。

    Tā dé le fèiyán, nánguài tā zài bùtíng de késou.

    He’s got pneumonia – no wonder he keeps coughing.

    Sentence #4632991 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 难怪你这么生气。

    Nánguài nǐ zhème shēngqì.

    No wonder you’re so angry.

    Sentence #1699043 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  3. 难怪他失败了。

    Nánguài tā shībài le.

    It is no wonder that he failed.

    Sentence #348470 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

How 难怪 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 难 (nán) with each of its parts in a different colour
难nándifficult
  • 又again · yòu
  • 隹short-tailed bird · zhuī

Memory aidPicture a hand 又 trying to catch a bird 隹: difficult.

The character 怪 (guài) with each of its parts in a different colour
怪guàiodd; strange; uncanny
  • 忄heart form of 心 · xīn
  • 圣holy · kū

How to write 难怪

难 10 strokes · 怪 8 strokes

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

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

Words related to 难怪

Words with 难

难nán · difficult难过nánguò · be grieved难题nántí · difficult problem难看nánkàn · ugly难听nántīng · unpleasant to hear困难kùnnan · difficult难受nánshòu · to feel unwell难道nándào · don’t tell me …难免nánmiǎn · hard to avoid艰难jiānnán · difficult

Words with 怪

奇怪qíguài · strange怪不得guàibude · no wonder!责怪zéguài · to blame古怪gǔguài · strange

More words: Function Words & Grammar

陆续lùxù · in turn某mǒu · some难免nánmiǎn · hard to avoid哪怕nǎpà · even宁可nìngkě · preferably偶然ǒurán · incidentally匹pǐ · measure word for horses and bolts of cloth片piàn · slice

FAQs

难怪 (nánguài) means “(it’s) no wonder (that…)” or “(it’s) not surprising (that)”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it nánguài: nán with a 2nd tone, then guài with a 4th 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, 难怪 is written 難怪. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type nanguai with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 难怪 from the suggestions. Typing nanguai into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
难怪 is an HSK 5 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.