反而 (fǎn'ér)

In Chinese, "反而" is an adverbial conjunction that indicates a contrast between what is expected and what actually happens. It is often used to express unexpected or contrary outcomes.

Basic Usage

"反而" is used to introduce a contrastive element in a sentence. Here are some common usages:

• Expressing unexpected outcomes: For example: 他努力学习了，反而考得更差了。 (tā nǔlì xuéxíle, fǎn'ér kǎo dé gèng chàle.) - He studied hard, but ended up performing even worse in the exam.
• Contrasting expectations: For example: 我本来担心她，结果她反而安慰了我。 (wǒ běnlái dānxīn tā, jiéguǒ tā fǎn'ér ānwèile wǒ.) - I was worried about her at first, but she ended up comforting me instead.

Examples

Here are some example sentences containing "反而":

• 我以为他会生气，但他反而笑了起来。 (wǒ yǐwéi tā huì shēngqì, dàn tā fǎn'ér xiàole qǐlái.) - I thought he would get angry, but he ended up laughing instead.
• 她不是很有经验，但反而做得很出色。 (tā bùshì hěn yǒu jīngyàn, dàn fǎn'ér zuò dé hěn chūsè.) - She doesn't have much experience, but she ended up performing very well instead.