Skip to content
道Nihongo Path

Word 1437 of 2252

Save Sign in to track

偶然

ぐうぜん

chance, coincidence; by chance

By Nihongo PathUpdated

Examples

  1. 偶然の一致にすぎない。

    ぐうぜんのいっちにすぎない。

    It is merely a coincidence.

  2. 駅で偶然、昔の友人に会った。

    えきでぐうぜん、むかしのゆうじんにあった。

    I ran into an old friend at the station by chance.

  3. 成功は偶然ではなく努力の結果だと彼は言った。

    せいこうはぐうぜんではなくどりょくのけっかだとかれはいった。

    He said that success is not chance but the result of effort.

Common patterns

偶然の一致
a coincidence
偶然にも
as chance would have it
偶然出会う
to meet by chance

Memory tip

It works as a plain adverb with no に: 偶然会った. たまたま is the casual spoken equivalent, while 偶然 can also stand as a noun, as in 偶然の一致.

Kanji in this word

Quick check

1 / 2Multiple choiceDifficulty 2 of 5

What does 偶然 mean?