Question
Updated on
12 Apr 2017
- English (US) Near fluent
- Japanese Near fluent
- German
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English (US)
Question about English (US)
What is the difference between suddenly and abruptly and unexpectedly ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.
What is the difference between suddenly and abruptly and unexpectedly ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.
Answers
12 Apr 2017
Featured answer
- English (US)
Suddenly just means it happened quickly and does not imply anything about the duration of the event. Abruptly can be used in the same way, but implies that the suddeness happened at the end of the event. Unexpectedly doesn't imply anything about how fast something started or stopped, just that you were not expecting it.
It suddenly started pouring rain.
The rain then abruptly stopped as quickly as it began.
I unexpectedly ran into my old girlfriend at the restaurant while on a date with my wife.
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- English (US)
They really mean the same thing but unexpectedly is when you did not expect or see it coming but suddenly and abruptly are just it happened without warning.
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- English (US)
Suddenly just means it happened quickly and does not imply anything about the duration of the event. Abruptly can be used in the same way, but implies that the suddeness happened at the end of the event. Unexpectedly doesn't imply anything about how fast something started or stopped, just that you were not expecting it.
It suddenly started pouring rain.
The rain then abruptly stopped as quickly as it began.
I unexpectedly ran into my old girlfriend at the restaurant while on a date with my wife.
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- English (US) Near fluent
- Japanese Near fluent
- German
- English (US)
@Nijntje Thank you. You're very welcome.
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