Chinese–EnglishWith examples

原来

yuán lái · yuan lai

Traditional 原來

Meaning

CC-CEDICT

原来 can refer to the original situation or introduce something you have just realized.

2 examples

原(yuán)来(lái)他(tā)们(men)前(qián)天(tiān)去(qù)电(diàn)影(yǐng)院(yuàn)啦(la)。

It turns out that they went to the cinema the day before yesterday.

我(wǒ)们(men)以(yǐ)为(wéi)他(tā)是(shì)一(yí)个(gè)英(yīng)雄(xióng)，原(yuán)来(lái)是(shì)一(yí)个(gè)叛(pàn)徒(tú)。

We had thought that he was a hero, but he turned out to be a traitor.

Choose a character to watch its strokes or trace it yourself.

Mainland China stroke order, including traditional characters. Drawing sources & licenses.

Explore individually

former; original

to come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb)

Individual character meanings do not always explain the meaning of a whole word.

Definitions adapted from CC-CEDICT, published by MDBG and its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Pinyin display and entry grouping have been adapted.