# Tự nhiên: suddenly, out of the blue in Vietnamese (B1)

> In Saigon speech, "suddenly" is tự nhiên or tự dưng. Both also carry "for no reason", out of the blue: Tự nhiên chị ấy khóc.

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/bong-suddenly/ · Updated 2026-10-17

**suddenly, out of the blue**

Pattern: `Tự nhiên / Tự dưng + [subject] + [verb] · [subject] + tự nhiên / tự dưng + [verb] · [subject] + bỗng (nhiên) / đột nhiên + [verb] (writing)`

Level: B1 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

Typed without accents: tu nhien, tu dung, bong, dot nhien

Saigon: tự nhiên; tự dưng | Hà Nội: tự dưng; bỗng dưng

Variants:

- bỗng (nhiên) (narrative)
- đột nhiên (written)

In Saigon speech, "suddenly" is *tự nhiên* or *tự dưng*. Both also carry "for no reason", out of the blue: *Tự nhiên chị ấy khóc.* She suddenly started crying, and nobody knows why. They go at the start of the sentence or straight before the verb: *Tự dưng anh ấy nghỉ việc* and *Anh ấy tự dưng nghỉ việc* both work.

A common frame sets the scene with *đang … thì*: *Đang ăn thì tự nhiên cúp điện.* We were eating when the power suddenly went off. To ask why something changed, start with *Sao tự nhiên …?*: *Sao tự nhiên em im vậy?* Why have you gone quiet all of a sudden? In Hà Nội, *tự dưng* and *bỗng dưng* are the usual words.

*Bỗng* and *bỗng nhiên* belong to stories and writing: *Trời đang nắng, bỗng nhiên đổ mưa.* It was sunny, then all of a sudden it poured. *Đột nhiên* is the word in the news, and it's also heard in careful speech.

Take care: *tự nhiên* also means "natural": *Cứ tự nhiên!* is "Make yourself at home!", and *nói tự nhiên* is "speak naturally". At the start of a sentence or before a verb, it's "suddenly".

*Vừa* and *mới* say something has just happened. *Tự nhiên* says it happened without warning.

## Examples

- Saigon: Đang ăn thì tự nhiên cúp điện. | Hà Nội: Đang ăn thì tự dưng mất điện. — We were eating when suddenly the power went off.
- Saigon: Sao tự nhiên em im vậy? | Hà Nội: Sao tự dưng em im thế? — Why have you gone quiet all of a sudden?
- Saigon: Tự dưng anh ấy nghỉ việc, không nói với ai hết. | Hà Nội: Tự dưng anh ấy nghỉ việc, không nói với ai cả. — He quit his job out of the blue, without telling anyone.
- Trời đang nắng, bỗng nhiên đổ mưa. — It was sunny, then all of a sudden it poured.

## Words in this pattern

- [tự nhiên](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/tu-nhien/#s_tu_nhien_suddenly): suddenly

## Compare

- [Just happened: vừa / mới / vừa mới](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/vua-moi-just/): has just

Previous in Time and when things happen: [Only if, to … you must: phải … mới, muốn … thì phải](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/co-moi-only-if/)
Next in Time and when things happen: [Until: (cho) đến khi](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/den-khi-until/)

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