HSK 4 · Function Words

原来 yuánlái “original” in Chinese

Traditional 原來

What 原来 means

  1. original
  2. former
  3. originally
  4. formerly
  5. at first
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • so, actually, as it turns out

How to say 原来

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale原yuán2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale来lái2nd tone, rising

原来 in a sentence

  1. 他坚持原来的计划。

    Tā jiānchí yuánlái de jìhuà.

    He stuck to the original plan.

    Sentence #805729 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

  2. 我已经变了。我不再是原来的那个我了。

    Wǒ yǐjīng biàn le. Wǒ búzài shì yuánlái de nà ge wǒ le.

    I’ve changed. I’m not the person I used to be.

    Sentence #3467919 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 原来 can also mean “so it turns out”

    原来你是这样想的。

    Yuánlái nǐ shì zhèyàng xiǎng de.

    Oh, so that’s what you think!

    Sentence #1766211 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 原来 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 原 (yuán) with each of its parts in a different colour
原yuánformer
  • 厂cliff · hǎnMeaning part
  • 泉spring · quánSound part

厂 hints at the meaning (cliff); 泉 (quán) hints at the sound. Compare it with yuán.

The character 来 (lái) with each of its parts in a different colour
来láito come
  • 未part of the character
  • 丷eight form of 八 · bā

Memory aidDrawn from a stalk of wheat. It was borrowed early on for “to come”.

How to write 原来

原 10 strokes · 来 7 strokes

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

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

Words related to 原来

Words with 原

原谅yuánliàng · to excuse原因yuányīn · cause原料yuánliào · raw material原则yuánzé · principle原先yuánxiān · originally平原píngyuán · plain还原huányuán · to restore原始yuánshǐ · original原告yuángào · plaintiff原理yuánlǐ · principle

Words with 来

来lái · to come出来chūlái · to come out过来guòlái · to come over回来huílai · to return进来jìnlái · to come in上来shànglái · to come up下来xiàlai · to come down后来hòulái · afterwards起来qǐlai · beginning or continuing an action带来dàilái · to bring (about)

More words: Particles & Connectors

由yóu · by由于yóuyú · due to于是yúshì · thereupon与yǔ · and咱们zánmen · we真正zhēnzhèng · genuine正好zhènghǎo · just (in time)之zhī · of (formal equivalent of 的)

FAQs

原来 (yuánlái) means “original” or “former”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it yuánlái: yuán with a 2nd tone, then lái 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, 原来 is written 原來. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type yuanlai with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 原来 from the suggestions. Typing yuanlai into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
原来 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.