Dictionary › 当然

当然

dāng rán

Old HSK 3 HSK 3.0 level 3 2-character word Traditional 當然

当然 (dāng rán) means "of course; certainly". It is an HSK 3.0 level 3 word, and was HSK 3 in the old six-level list.

What 当然 means

1. only natural
2. as it should be
3. certainly
4. of course
5. without doubt

How 当然 is used in grammar

当然 is a grammar word. Each link goes to its own section: what it does in that pattern, the structure, three example sentences with pinyin, and the mistake to avoid.

• Modal Stance Adverbs: 大概, 恐怕, 当然, 其实 (HSK 3)

The official HSK 3.0 grammar outline lists it at level 3, adverbs (语气副词).

The characters in 当然

• 当dāng(onomatopoeia) dong; ding dong (bell)
• 然ráncorrect; right; so

Example sentences

• 当然。
  Of course.
• 当然!
  Of course!
• 当然哪！
  Definitely!
• 当然了。
  Of course.
• 当然是的。
  Yes, of course.
• 哦，当然。
  Oh, sure.

Words containing 当然

• 理所当然lǐ suǒ dāng ránas it should be by rights (idiom); proper and to be expected as a matter of course…
• 想当然xiǎng dāng ránto take sth as given; to make assumptions
• 想当然尔xiǎng dāng rán ěrto take sth as given; to assume; as one would expect
• 想当然耳xiǎng dāng rán ěrvariant of 想当然尔

Where 当然 is taught

In the GraphChinese course it is part of Stance Adverbs & Evaluative Words (HSK 3), each one a topic in the dependency graph of HSK 1–6 that opens only once its prerequisites are solid.

Go deeper

• Every HSK 3 word, with the rest of its level.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read dāng rán correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.