Expressing "anyway" with "fanzheng"

Using 反正 (fǎnzhèng) can be a bit addictive as it is seemingly possible to throw in everywhere. 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

Just put 反正 in the sentence after a comma or pause, similar to how we use "anyways" 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 bù qù, fǎnzhèng wǒ yào qù.No matter whether he's going or not, I'm going anyway.
• 不管 你 信 不 信 ，反正 我 信 。Bùguǎn nǐ xìn bù 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.I don't really care what people think.
• 说 不 说 都 一样 ，反正 没有 人 会 听 我 的 。Shuō bù 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. It can be placed either at the beginning or the end while 既然 can only be placed at the beginning.

反正 + Condition ，Decision / Suggestion

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.
• 反正 我 也 不 需要，就 送 给 你 吧。Fǎnzhèng wǒ yě bù xūyào, jiù sòng gěi nǐ ba.I don't need it anyway. So I'll just give it to you.
• 反正 我 家 够 大，你们 今晚 都 住 这儿 吧。Fǎnzhèng wǒjiā gòu dà, nǐmen jīn wǎn dōu zhù zhè'er ba.My house is big enough, you can all stay here tonight.
• 反正 大家 都 知道 了，你 还 怕 什么？Fǎnzhèng dàjiā dōu zhīdàole, nǐ hái pà shénme?Everybody knows about it now. So what are you still afraid of?
• 反正 可以 刷卡 ，没有 现金 没什么 大不了 的 。Fǎnzhèn kěyǐ shuākǎ, méiyǒu xiànjīn méishénme dàbùliǎo de.It’s no big deal not to have cash. We can swipe a credit card.

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

HSK5