然 rán — correct; right; so; thus; like this; -ly
我们先吃饭，然后去看电影。Wǒ men xiān chī fàn, rán hòu qù kàn diàn yǐng.We will eat first, then go to see a movie.
Common words: 然后 (rán hòu)、虽然 (suī rán)、忽然 (hū rán)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "thus"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "thus", including 然 (rán), 尔 (ěr), 乃 (nǎi). Study pinyin, English meanings, traditional forms, common words…
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "thus" covers 3 different Chinese characters — 然 (rán), 尔 (ěr), 乃 (nǎi) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 3 characters do not share a sound — their readings span rán, ěr, nǎi — so confirm the pinyin and tone for each one separately. The example sentences further down show how 然 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 然 ráncorrect; right; so; thus; like this; -lyUseful words: 然后, 虽然
- 尔 ěrthus; so; like that; you; thouUseful words: 偶尔, 高尔夫球
- 乃 nǎito be; thus; so; therefore; then; onlyUseful words: 乃至, 乃是
Common words for these 3 "thus" characters
Anchor each of these 3 characters in a word you can picture — start with 然 (rán) — so "thus" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
然后rán hòuthen; after that; afterwards虽然suī ránalthough; even though忽然hū ránsuddenly; all of a sudden偶尔ǒu ěroccasionally; once in a while; sometimes高尔夫球gāo ěr fū qiúgolf; golf ball尔来ěr lái(literary) recently; lately; hitherto乃至nǎi zhìand even; to go so far as to乃是nǎi shìequivalent to either 是 or 就是乃尔nǎi ěrthus; like this
See each character in a sentence
Each character below is shown in a short example sentence with pinyin and an English translation — the quickest way to feel the difference between the 3 ways to say "thus".
尔 ěr — thus; so; like that; you; thou
我偶尔会去那家餐厅吃饭。Wǒ ǒu ěr huì qù nà jiā cān tīng chī fàn.I occasionally go to that restaurant to eat.
Common words: 偶尔 (ǒu ěr)、高尔夫球 (gāo ěr fū qiú)、尔来 (ěr lái)
乃 nǎi — to be; thus; so; therefore; then; only
失败乃成功之母。Shī bài nǎi chéng gōng zhī mǔ.Failure is the mother of success.
Common words: 乃至 (nǎi zhì)、乃是 (nǎi shì)、乃尔 (nǎi ěr)
All 3 characters
Open 然、尔、乃 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.