Expressing "no wonder"

难怪 can be used to express that the speaker finds something unsurprising. It can be used alone or in a variety of different structures, as shown below.

难怪 as "it is not surprising that"

Here 难怪 is used to convey the speaker's lack of amazement at a situation, having recently acquired some new information that in his opinion explains it. It is used in much the same way as 怪不得.

Structure 1

难怪 + ([observation])

Examples

  • 他 和 女朋友 分手 了,难怪 他 最近 一直 不 高兴。
  • 小张 请假 了,难怪 今天 没有 看到 他。
  • 难怪

Structure 2

难怪 + [observation],原来 + [reason]

Examples

  • 难怪 老板 生气 了,原来 那 个 大 客户 取消 了 订单。
  • 难怪 这里 人 这么 多,原来 在 打折。
  • 难怪 他 天天 迟到,原来 他 要 自己 照顾 孩子。

难怪 as "is not to be blamed"

Structure

(这也)+ 难怪 + ([specific person/people])

Examples

  • 难怪 他,他 还 是 个 孩子 呢,什么 都 不 懂。
  • 这 也 难怪你,第 一 次 到 这 个 地方 还 不 了解 这里 的 风俗。
  • A: 他迟到了。 B: 这也难怪。 今天地铁坏了。

When used in this way it expresses that the speaker assigns no blame in the situation he is describing. Sometimes the specific person undeserving of blame is mentioned directly after 难怪, as in first two examples. Often the context makes clear who this person is and obviates the need for him to be mentioned specifically, as in the final example.

难怪 as "inevitable"

Similar to 难免,here 难怪 operates as an adjective meaning that something is inevitable.

Structure

A是难怪的。

Examples

  • 这么 多 工作,忘 一 件 是 难怪 的。
  • 工作 很 忙,改 几 次 见面 时间 也 是 难怪 的。
  • 第 一 次 做 饭,做 不 好 是 难怪 的。

See also

Sources and further reading

Books

Dictionaries