Grammar Info

N2 Lesson 9: 6/37

いきなりFor no reason, Suddenly, All of a sudden

Structure

いきなり + (Action) Phrase

Details

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    Standard

  • Rare Kanji

    行き成り

About いきなり

いきなり, a word appearing almost exclusively in hiragana, is an adverb that conveys the meaning of 'suddenly', 'all of a sudden', or 'for no reason'. いきなり indicates when something happens abruptly, and without any prior warning.

As いきなり is an adverb, it will primarily appear at the beginning of sentences, or directly before the verb that it is describing.

Fun-fact

いきなり comes from 行(い)き成(な)り, but is rarely seen in its kanji form. This original meaning referred to a particular situation's development or unfolding. Due to this, although often being used purely as 'suddenly', it has a similar nuance to English phrases like 'a sudden turn of events'. This just expresses that the way the situation developed was abrupt or unexpected.

Examples

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    行(い)き成(な)りの展開(てんかい)に驚(おどろ)きを隠(かく)せない。

    I can't hide my surprise at the sudden development.

    行(い)き成(な)り電波(でんぱ)が切(き)れてしまうのは困(こま)る。

    Suddenly losing phone service gets on my nerves.

    そんな行(い)き成(な)り停車(ていしゃ)したら危(あぶ)ないですよ。

    Abruptly stopping like that is dangerous!

    行(い)き成(な)り難問(なんもん)に突(つ)き当(あ)たってしまった。

    I suddenly, and unfortunately, ran into a hard problem.

    弟(おとうと)は、行(い)き成(な)り手(て)づかみでご飯(はん)を食(た)べ始(はじ)めた。

    My younger brother suddenly started eating rice with his hands for no reason.

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