Expressing "anyway" with "fanzheng"

Lovers of the word "anyways" in English, rejoice! The word 反正 (fǎnzhèng) works essemtially the same way. It means "anyhow," or "regardless," and is used to disregard a previous statement, particularly those involving options or choices.

反正 as "No Matter What"

Structure

You can put 反正 in the sentence after a comma or pause, similar to how we use "anyway" in English. It can be used with "不管."

[Disregarded Situation] ， 反正 ⋯⋯

Examples

• 不管 他 去 不 去 ，反正 我 要 去 。Bùguǎn tā qù bu qù, fǎnzhèng wǒ yào qù.Regardless of whether he's going or not, I'm going anyway.
• 不管 你 信 不 信 ，反正 我 信 。Bùguǎn nǐ xìn bu xìn, fǎnzhèng wǒ xìn.No matter whether you believe this or not, I believe it anyway.
• 不管 他 爸爸 是 谁 ，反正 我 要 告 他 。Bùguǎn tā bàba shì shéi, fǎnzhèng wǒ yào gào tā.No matter who his father is, I'm going to sue him anyway.
• 随便 别人 怎么 想 ，反正 我 无所谓。Suíbiàn biérén zěnme xiǎng, fǎnzhèng wǒ wúsuǒwèi.Other people can think whatever they want. I don't really care what people think.
• 说 不 说 都 一样 ，反正 没有 人 会 听 我 的 。Shuō bu shuō dōu yīyàng, fǎnzhèng méiyǒu rén huì tīng wǒ de.Whether I speak or not, it's all the same. Nobody is going to listen to me anyway.

反正 to Emphasize a Reason

Structure

反正, in this case, is used to convey a certainty or resolution. It‘s similar to 既然 (jìrán). 反正 goes at the beginning of the clause introducing the reason, but that clause can come first or second in the sentence. (既然 is not quite so flexible.)

反正 + Reason ，Decision / Suggestion

Decision / Suggestion ，反正 + Reason

Examples

• 反正 他们 不 来 了，咱们 自己 去 吧。Fǎnzhèng tāmen bù lái le, zánmen zìjǐ qù ba.They are not coming anyway, so let's just go by ourselves.
• 我 就 送 给 你 吧 。 反正 我 也 不 需要。Wǒ jiù sòng gěi nǐ ba. Fǎnzhèng wǒ yě bù xūyào.I'll just give it to you. I don't need it anyway.
• 反正 我 家 够 大，你们 今晚 都 住 这儿 吧。Fǎnzhèng wǒ jiā gòu dà, nǐmen jīn wǎn dōu zhù zhèr ba.My house is big enough, you can all stay here tonight.
• 你 还 怕 什么？反正 大家 都 知道 了 。Nǐ hái pà shénme? Fǎnzhèng dàjiā dōu zhīdào le.What are you still afraid of? Everybody knows about it now anyway.
• 反正 可以 刷卡 ，没有 现金 没什么 大不了 的 。Fǎnzhèn kěyǐ shuākǎ, méiyǒu xiànjīn méi shénme dàbuliǎo de.Anyway, we can just use a credit card. It’s no big deal to have no cash.

See Also

• "No matter" with "wulun"
• "No matter" with "buguan"
• Expressing "since" with "jiran"

Sources and further reading

Books

• New Practical Chinese Reader 6 (新实用汉语课本6) (pp. 209) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• Short-term Spoken Chinese: Elementary (汉语口语速成基础篇) (pp. 139-140) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy

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