Phrase
all of a sudden
adverb
突然；冷不防
without warning; happening unexpectedly
- 1.
without warning
突然地,没有预兆地
- 2.
happening unexpectedly
突然,意外
突然地,没有预兆地；突然,意外；突然
In use
All of a sudden, the lights went out.
She was walking calmly, when all of a sudden she started running.
All of a sudden, I remembered I had an appointment.
all of a sudden, + clause
常置于句首，修饰整个句子。
All of a sudden, the lights went out.
突然，灯灭了。
clause + all of a sudden
也可置于句末，强调动作的突发性。
She stopped talking all of a sudden.
她突然不说话了。
Common mistakes
All of sudden, the lights went out.All of a sudden, the lights went out.
固定短语中缺少冠词 'a'。'all of a sudden' 中的 'a' 不可省略，因为它是固定搭配的一部分。
All the sudden, he started laughing.All of a sudden, he started laughing.
使用了错误的冠词 'the'。正确固定短语为 'all of a sudden'，介词 'of' 和冠词 'a' 不能替换为 'the'。
Connections
Confusing words
- suddenly
- 突然 · “all of a sudden”是固定短语，常用于句首，更口语化；“suddenly”是副词，位置灵活，较中性。
- all at once
- 突然；同时 · “all at once”可表示“突然”或“同时”，而“all of a sudden”只有“突然”义。
- out of the blue
- 突然地，出乎意料地 · “out of the blue”比喻意外发生，强调出乎意料，常与介词短语连用。
Word family
- sudden
- 突然的，意外的 · adj
- suddenly
- 突然地 · adv
- suddenness
- 突然，意外 · n
Learner notes
Grammar Note
固定短语，不可拆分为 all of the sudden；相当于 suddenly。
Dictionary facts from DICTIONARY_API_DEV, ECDICT, WIKTIONARY.