How to use 难怪
难怪 + person; 这也难怪 (+ person)
难怪 can evaluate responsibility rather than simply introduce an explanation. In this use, it means that blaming someone would be unreasonable or difficult to justify. A person can follow it directly, and the surrounding explanation supplies a sympathetic reason for the person's behavior. The speaker may acknowledge that something went wrong while asking others to judge the situation more generously.
The phrase 这也难怪 can stand as a response to circumstances already discussed, with the person understood. This overlaps in meaning with saying that a result is understandable. Check whether the sentence focuses on excusing a person or recognizing an unsurprising fact before interpreting every occurrence as the same construction.
Examples with pinyin and English
他迟到了， 这也难怪。 今天地铁坏了。
He's late, but we can't blame him for that. The subway broke down today.
难怪他，他还是个孩子呢，什么都不懂。
Don't blame him, he's just a child. He doesn't know any better.
这也难怪你，第一次到这个地方还不了解这里的风俗。
No one can blame you for this. It's your first time in this place, and you aren't familiar with the local customs.
这也难怪，他刚来嘛， 算了算了。
Don't blame him. He just got here, let's just forget about it.
What to remember
- A person can be the object of 难怪.
- Use context to identify whose responsibility is discussed.
- Separate excusing someone from the no-wonder interpretation.
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Source and editorial notes
Explanation rewritten for Laowai. Examples are adapted from the Laowai English grammar curriculum, with editorial corrections where needed. The original curriculum credits AllSet Learning’s Chinese Grammar Wiki as used with permission. Read the retained source credits.
Difficulty labels describe the level of the explanation; they are not official HSK placement. Send a correction with this page’s URL.