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 。No matter he's going or not, I'm going anyway.
  • 不管 你 信 不 信 ,反正 我 信 。No matter you believe this or not, I believe it anyway.
  • 不管 他 爸爸 是 谁 ,反正 我 要 告 他 。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。I don't really care however people think.
  • 说 不 说 都 一样 ,反正 没有 人 会 听 我 的 。Speaking or not is 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。They are not coming anyway, so let's just go by ourselves.
  • 反正 我 也 不 需要,就 送 给 你 吧。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。My house is big enough, you can all stay here tonight.
  • 反正 大家 都 知道 了,你 还 怕 什么?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 。It’s no big deal not to have cash. We can swipe a credit card.

See Also

Sources and further reading

Books

HSK5