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所以然

Mandarin · pinyin suǒ yǐ rán

the reason why

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Characters in this entry

所: suǒ · place, location; numerary adjunct
以: yǐ · by means of; thereby, therefore; consider as; in order to
然: rán · yes, certainly; pledge, promise

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

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Mandarin tones

3–3–2 · suo3 yi3 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

why something is so; reason (Classifier: 個／个 m)

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

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