原来 yuánlái in a sentence
Originally (formerly - all along - at first)
原来 (yuánlái) means Originally (formerly - all along - at first). Below are 15 sentences on this site that use it — with pinyin, an English translation and audio. All of them were written by hand; none is machine generated.
Dictionary examples
原来 他早就知道了。
Yuánlái tā zǎo jiù zhīdào le.
So it turns out he knew all along.
Dictionary example · HSK 4 · 原来
这里 原来 是一个小村子。
Zhèlǐ yuánlái shì yí ge xiǎo cūnzi.
This place used to be a small village.
Dictionary example · HSK 4 · 原来
哦， 原来 是这么回事。
Ò, yuánlái shì zhème huí shì.
Oh, so that's what it was about.
Dictionary example · HSK 6 · 哦
法院撤销了 原来 的判决。
Fǎyuàn chèxiāo le yuánlái de pànjué.
The court overturned the original judgment.
Dictionary example · HSK 6 · 撤销
难怪找不到， 原来 放错了。
Nánguài zhǎo bu dào, yuánlái fàng cuò le.
No wonder I could not find it; it was put in the wrong place.
Dictionary example · HSK 5 · 难怪
请把桌子放回 原来 的位置。
Qǐng bǎ zhuōzi fàng huí yuánlái de wèizhi.
Please put the table back in its original place.
Dictionary example · HSK 5 · 位置
新证据推翻了 原来 的结论。
Xīn zhèngjù tuīfān le yuánlái de jiélùn.
New evidence overturned the original conclusion.
Dictionary example · HSK 6 · 推翻
怪不得他今天没来， 原来 病了。
Guài bu de tā jīntiān méi lái, yuánlái bìng le.
No wonder he did not come today; he was ill.
Dictionary example · HSK 5 · 怪不得
新规定堵住了 原来 制度的弊端。
Xīn guīdìng dǔzhù le yuánlái zhìdù de bìduān.
The new rules closed the loopholes in the old system.
Dictionary example · HSK 6 · 弊端
他把房间还原成了 原来 的样子。
Tā bǎ fángjiān huányuán chéng le yuánlái de yàngzi.
He restored the room to the way it had been.
Dictionary example · HSK 6 · 还原
Reading these is one thing; producing 原来 yourself is another. Cloze in Context takes a sentence from this same bank, removes one word and asks you to put it back — beginner, intermediate and advanced.
From the graded readers
新工作的收入只有 原来 的一半。
xīn gōngzuò de / dì shōurù zhǐyǒu yuánlái de / dì yībàn.
The new job paid half what the old one had.
Graded reader · HSK 4 · Changing Jobs
原来 的位置上现在是一个超市。
yuánlái de / dì wèizhi shàng xiànzài shì yīgè chāoshì.
In its place there was now a supermarket.
Graded reader · HSK 4 · Going Back Home
原来 那个声音不是搬东西，是他的拐杖。
yuánlái nèigè shēngyīn búshì bān dōngxī, shì tāde guǎi zhàng.
So the noise wasn't furniture at all — it was his walking stick.
Graded reader · HSK 3 · The Neighbour Upstairs
原来 在这个什么都变了的地方，还有人记得我。
yuánlái zài zhège shénme dōu biàn le / liǎo / liào de / dì dìfang, háiyǒu rén jìde wǒ.
So in this place where everything had changed, someone still remembered me.
Graded reader · HSK 4 · Going Back Home
新房子比 原来 的小一点儿，不过窗户大，光线好。
xīnfáng zǐ bǐ yuánlái de / dì xiǎo yīdiǎn ér, búguò chuāng hù dà, guāngxiàn hǎo / hào.
The new place is a little smaller, but the windows are big and the light is good.
Graded reader · HSK 3 · Moving House
Questions about 原来
How is 原来 used in a sentence?
This page shows 15 sentences using 原来 (yuánlái, "Originally (formerly - all along - at first)"), each with pinyin, an English translation and audio. Every one of them was written by hand for this site.
Are these sentences machine generated?
No. They come from the site's own dictionary examples, graded readers, travel phrasebook and grammar library — all written by a person. A word with no sentence gets no page here, rather than a page of invented ones.
Is 原来 an HSK word?
Yes — 原来 is on the official HSK 4 vocabulary list, and you can study it with the rest of that list on the HSK 4 page.
Where can I see the full entry for 原来?
The dictionary page for 原来 has its stroke order, its traditional form, every sense the dictionary lists and a character-by-character breakdown. It is linked at the top of this page.
Keep going
Read the full entry for 原来, write a sentence of your own and check it in the Pinyin Annotator, drill it with HSK 4 flashcards, or search the whole sentence bank for another word.
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