Expressing "hard to avoid" with "nanmian"

难免 (nánmiǎn) means "to be unavoidable" or "inevitable" and is most commonly placed before a verb, often an auxiliary verb such as 会 or 要. It can only be used to introduce an inevitable situation that is characterized by negative features. One cannot use 难免 to talk of a positive inevitability such as "you will inevitably have a good time."

Structure

(Subj.) + 难免 + Verb

Examples

• 刚 开始 说 外语 时 难免 会 有 一些 误会。Gāng kāishǐ shuō wàiyǔ shí nánmiǎn huì yǒu yīxiē wùhuì.When you first start speaking a foreign language, there are inevitably going to be some misunderstandings.
• 年轻 人 难免 会 遇到 挫折，关键 是 学习 怎么样 克服。Niánqīng rén nánmiǎn huì yù dào cuòzhé, guānjiàn shì xuéxí zěnme yàng kèfú.Young people are always going to face problems, but the most important thing is to learn how to overcome them.
• 第 一 次 坐 飞机 出国 难免 会 有点 兴奋 。Dì yī cì zuò fēijī chūguó nánmiǎn huì yǒudiǎn xīngfèn.There‘s no way not to feel excited about it the first time you go abroad by plane .
• 现在 是 高峰期，地铁 难免 会 拥挤。Xiànzài shì gāofēng qī, dìtiě nánmiǎn huì yǒngjǐ.It's rush hour right now. There's no way to avoid the congestion in the subway.
• 这家 公司 的 实习生 难免 要 做 一些 打杂 的 事。Zhè jiā gōngsī de shíxí shēng nánmiǎn yào zuò yīxiē dǎzá de shì.There's no way for the interns at this firm to avoid doing odds and ends.

Using a negative in the phrase after 难免 does not change the meaning of the sentence. So, for example, 难免不拥挤 and 难免拥挤 mean the same thing.

Sources and further reading

Books

• 现代汉语八百词 (pp. 408-409) 卓越汉语－公司实战篇 →buy

HSK5