Level 4 · Upper Intermediate
Surprise with 竟然/居然
Subj. + 竟然 / 居然 + Verb
竟然 (jìngrán) and 居然 (jūrán) flag that what happened was genuinely unexpected: 他竟然忘了我的名字 "he actually forgot my name (can you believe it?)". They add no facts — only your raised eyebrows.
Both are adverbs, so they go after the subject and before the verb. 居然 feels a touch more amazed/indignant, but for everyday purposes they're interchangeable.
Examples
他竟然忘了我的名字。
tā jìng rán wàng le wǒ de míng zi
He actually forgot my name.
他居然没告诉我这件事。
他居然沒告訴我這件事。
tā jū rán méi gào sù wǒ zhè jiàn shì
He didn't even tell me about this — unbelievable.
这么简单的问题，他竟然不会。
這麼簡單的問題，他竟然不會。
zhè me jiǎn dān de wèn tí tā jìng rán bù huì
Such a simple question, and he couldn't do it.
十二月了，天气竟然这么热。
十二月了，天氣竟然這麼熱。
shí èr yuè le tiān qì jìng rán zhè me rè
It's December, and yet it's this hot.
Common mistakes
✗ 竟然他忘了我的名字。
✓ 他竟然忘了我的名字。
竟然/居然 are adverbs — they follow the subject, they don't open the sentence.
Related grammar points
See it in a story
Read this pattern in context: The Dirty Window — free graded stories with tap-to-reveal pinyin and translations.
