Adverbs with the meaning “suddenly”
There are several words which express “suddenly” in Chinese. They all have different shades of meaning.
The adverb 忽然
忽然 
comes before a predicate expressed by a verb, often in combination with the modal particle 了 .
It indicates that the the action was unexpected.
comes before a predicate expressed by a verb, often in combination with the modal particle 了 .
It indicates that the the action was unexpected.Examples
上课的时候她忽然哭起来了
She suddenly burst into tears during class
shàngkè de shíhou tā hūrán kūqǐlái le
他忽然走了，我都没跟他说再见
He left suddenly and I didn't even say goodbye to him
tā hūrán zǒu le, wǒ dōu méi gēn tā shuō zàijiàn
The adverb 突然
突然 is similar to 忽然 and expresses surprise. When it comes before the verb, 忽然 and 突然 are interchangeable.
is similar to 忽然 and expresses surprise. When it comes before the verb, 忽然 and 突然 are interchangeable.Examples
你昨天怎么突然走了呢？
Why did you suddenly leave yesterday?
nǐ zuótiān zěnme tūrán zǒu le ne
突然下雨了
It suddenly rained
tūrán xià yǔ le
突然 as an adjective
However 突然 can also be an adjective “sudden”, “unexpected”. Here It can be used in different ways:
1) as an attributive. It is often followed by the particle 的 .
.
Scheme
突然
(的)
noun
Examples
这是突然的一个消息
This is very unexpected news
zhè shì tūrán de yí ge xiāoxi
2) as a predicate. We should put it after the adverb of degree. For example, 很 , 非常 .
, 非常 .Scheme
subject
adverb of degree
突然
Examples
快乐太突然
Happiness came so suddenly
kuàilè tài tūrán
死亡很突然
Death is so sudden
sǐwáng hěn tūrán
3) as a complement of state. In this case we also should put it after the adverb of degree.
Scheme
verb
得
adverb
突然
Examples
老师来得太突然了
The teacher arrived so suddenly
lǎoshī lái de tài tūrán le
孩子摔得很突然了
The child fell so suddenly
háizi shuāi de hěn tūrán le
4) with a complement of degree to strengthen the meaning “suddenly”. For example:
得很
得多
极了
得多
极了 Examples
这发生了突然得很
It happened extremely unexpectedly
zhè fāshēng le tūrán dehěn
The adverb 竟然
The adverb 竟然 is used when we talk about a result that is surprising to the speaker.
In a sentence it should be put before the predicate.
is used when we talk about a result that is surprising to the speaker.
In a sentence it should be put before the predicate.Examples
这篇课文很复杂，她竟然都看得懂
This text is very complicated but she can surprisingly understand it all
zhè piān kèwén hěn fùzá, tā jìngrán dōu kàndedǒng
他答应过我，但是竟然没有来
He surprisingly didn't come even though he promised he would
tā dāyìngguò wǒ, dànshì jìngrán méiyǒu lái
我发现他竟然很聪明！
I didn’t expect him to be smart!
wǒ fāxiàn tā jìngrán hěn cōngmíng
The adverb 居然
The adverb 居然 emphasizes that an action occurred contrary to expectation. This action can be either negative or positive.
emphasizes that an action occurred contrary to expectation. This action can be either negative or positive. Pay attention
居然 can come either before or after the subject.
Examples
我对他那么好，他居然卖我了
I was so good to him but he betrayed me
wǒ duì tā nàme hǎo, tā jūrán mài wǒ le
这居然还很有趣
This is surprisingly quite interesting
zhè jūrán hái hěn yǒuqù
这么要的事，居然你忘了
Such an important thing and you forgot!
zhème zhòngyào de shì, jūrán nǐ wàng le
The adverb 猛然
The adverb 猛然 indicates that the action was sudden and very fast.
It comes before a predicate which is expressed by a verb.
indicates that the action was sudden and very fast.
It comes before a predicate which is expressed by a verb.Examples
他猛然刹车，使得前车轮打滑了
He suddenly braked hard, making the front wheels skid
tā měngrán shāchē, shǐdé qián chēlún dǎhuá le
她猛然开了门
She suddenly opened the door
tā měngrán kāi le mén
美元猛然升值到三个月来的最高价
For the last three months, the rate of USD increased sharply
měiyuán měngrán shēngzhí dào sān ge yuè lái de zuì gāo jià
The adverb 骤然
The adverb 骤然 also indicates surprise and speed of action, but has a stronger emotional connotation.
also indicates surprise and speed of action, but has a stronger emotional connotation.Examples
天空骤然转暗
The sky suddenly went dark
tiānkōng zhòurán zhuǎn àn
股票市场骤然收缩
The stock market suddenly contracted
gǔpiào shìchǎng zhòurán shōusuō
驾驶舱的窗子已向内破裂，气压骤然下降
The window in the cockpit had blown in and the pressure dropped dramatically
jiàshǐ cāng de chuāngzi yǐ xiàng nèi pòliè, qìyā zhòurán xiàjiàng