# 猛然 / 突然 / 忽然 / 恍然 / 霍然 (suddenly)



## Staarkali

Hello all,

is there any difference, as subtle as it might be, among these 猛然，突然，忽然，恍然，霍然 (which are all supposed to mean *suddenly*)?
here are my guesses:
猛然 is suddenly or abruptly (might convey a negative feeling or result)
突然 and 忽然 mean suddenly and are most neutral.
恍然 means suddenly but only for understanding or realising something suddenly
霍然 I don't know. Most of my dictionaries don't even have this entry..

In other words, can we or not exchange one with another in the following:
大家都往前走，你猛然回头，吓了我一跳
她刚走了几分钟，谁想到突然又回来了
听你一说，我恍然明白了他们的意思
听了医生的解释，我的眼前霍然一亮

Thanks in advance!


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## BODYholic

猛然> 突然> 忽然
- It seems to me that there are different degrees of abruptness.

恍然
- This word is not used with physical motion. 

霍然
- This is not common from where I am.
http://cd.kdd.cc/K/7G3/


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## echo_zkl

大家都往前走，你猛然回头，吓了我一跳 （you could replace with 突然、忽然。）
她刚走了几分钟，谁想到突然又回来了 （突然 is the only proper word)
听你一说，我恍然明白了他们的意思 (with 突然, it sounds natural to my native ears as well)
听了医生的解释，我的眼前霍然一亮 (霍然 is the only word)


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## Geysere

As you know 猛 has the meaning of violent, so 猛然 is the strongest, emphasizing the abruptness and the extent of action (猛然发现, 猛然站起). It doesn't convey a negative meaning by itself, although the outcome of this action may not be good (他猛然把门推开 --> 门撞烂了)

突然 and 忽然 is almost exchangeable, but the former is slightly more abrupt to my ears.

霍然 is more common in classical Chinese. It's really quick, like something just happens with a wave of the magic stick 

In general "XX然" means "XX的样子", so when you encounter a word of this structure first try to grab the meaning of "XX" and then you are almost there.


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## pulaunias

猛然，突然，忽然，
They are roughly the same, particularly the latter two. The first one is slightly higher in the extent of abruptness; it is better used with a physical action (coz 猛/reckless-brave is intrinsically associated with body movement; look at the left side of this character, it implies an animal).

恍然
Most suitable in mental activity. A popular phrase is 恍然大悟. 
Remember the character 恍 has a "heart" at its left side, so it is best used with a mental/cognitive thing.


霍然/ 
The only usage that came to my mind now is 霍然开朗, which means sth suddenly became bright/understandable (so previously dark/incomprehensible).


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## Geysere

pulaunias said:


> 霍然/
> The only usage that came to my mind now is 霍然开朗, which means sth suddenly became bright/understandable (so previously dark/incomprehensible).


That came to my mind too... But in fact it should be 豁然开朗
http://www.zdic.net/cd/ci/17/ZdicE8ZdicB1Zdic81249225.htm


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## pulaunias

Geysere你说得对


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## Staarkali

to sum up:
猛然, 突然 and 忽然 means suddenly for general purpose with various degree of intensity as described by Bodyholic
恍然 is for feelings and reason
霍然 for some specific expressions, with a touch of literacy (not for beginners  )

EDIT: by the way, thanks all for these


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## pulaunias

Your summary is generally right.

In addition, there is another common one 骤然

I feel I don't know how to describe the particular usage of this one and its difference from others.


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## Staarkali

I come to this thread with the additional expression:
蓦然
溘然
骤然
猝然
all meaning suddendly;

any differences?
are there some rare enough to leave aside for the moment?


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## YangMuye

我自己的語感：
猛然：用力的樣子。表示短時間內動作幅度很大。像猛獸一樣，氣勢兇猛。
突然：突兀的樣子。像是平原上走着走着，突然看到一座山。出乎（別人）意料。
恍然：模糊的樣子。像做夢一樣，不知不覺就過去了。有個詞語叫“恍然大悟”，所以“恍然”也表示“變清醒”“變明白”的樣子。
霍然：走出山洞，一片光亮。有點很突然+恍然的感覺，但是霍然比喻突然明白，或逆境突然好轉。
蓦然：不經意的猛然。如果說“蓦然望去”，有時結果可能出乎自己意料。
溘然：這字念什麼？汗。
骤然：像馬疾奔，比如速度極快。比如“風雨驟停”（上海經常驟雨吧？下得時候就像人在樓上倒了一盆水）
猝然：似乎有突然的意思，而結果往往都是很狼狽。我能想到的都不是好詞。


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## YangMuye

給你查幾個字的本義。谨供參考。
猛：健壮的狗。
突：犬从洞穴中突然窜出。
恍：慌（此說不可靠）。後來的含義：昏暗不明的樣子，心不在蔫的樣子，突然的樣樣，相似的樣子
霍：鸟疾飞时发出的声音。此詞是個拟聲詞，後來常有形容“突然光亮”的用法，可能是來自閃電。
蓦：上馬。後來又表示上（思緒上心頭）。依某新華字典，“表示受某种情景引起的行为”。
溘：這字基本上都找不出例句了。
骤：馬小跑。慢走叫“馳”，不馳就是“骤”
猝：狗突然從草叢中出來咬人。（突然、狂暴）


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## Ghabi

It took me some time to think when's the last time I saw 溘然, and I think I've only seen it in the fixed expression "溘然長逝" ("pass away suddenly"). 猝然 is also often used for death, but not necessarily. "Sudden death" in the medical sense is known as 猝死 in Chinese; in the soccer sense that'd be 突然死亡, though.


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