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不期然而然

Mandarin · pinyin bù qī rán ér rán

happen unexpectedly
turn out contrary to one's expectations

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Characters in this entry

不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
期: qī · period of time; date; time limit
然: rán · yes, certainly; pledge, promise
而: ér · and; and then; and yet; but; Kangxi radical 126

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–1–2–2–2 · bu4 qi1 ran2 er2 ran2

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Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun

to happen unexpectedly; to turn out contrary to one's expectations

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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