▎偏偏, piānpiān, (Adv), contrary to expectation, deliberately, annoyingly

 

Function 偏偏 is an adverb that expresses the speaker’s annoyance at the occurrence of a situation, against and contrary to his expectation.

1 我今天沒帶雨傘。希望別下雨，偏偏下午下起大雨來了。

Wǒ jīntiān méi dài yǔsǎn. Xīwàng bié xiàyǔ, piānpiān xiàwǔ xiàqǐ dàyǔ lái le.

I didn’t bring an umbrella today. I was hoping it wouldn’t rain but of course it poured in the afternoon.

2 真氣人，我準備的都是考古題。這次的考試偏偏一題考古題也沒有，害我沒考好。

Zhēn qìrén, wǒ zhǔnbèi de dōu shì kǎogǔtí. Zhè cì de kǎoshì piānpiān yì tí kǎogǔtí yě méi yǒu, hài wǒ méi kǎohǎo.

Unbelievable, I studied all the old recycled tests but there wasn’t a single repeat question, and I got a bad mark because of it.

3 我請他別穿西裝來參加。他卻偏偏穿了黑色西裝來了。

Wǒ qǐng tā bié chuān xīzhuāng lái cānjiā. Tā què piānpiān chuānle hēisè xīzhuāng lái le.

I asked him not to come wearing a suit, but guess what, he showed up in a black suit.

4 我們告訴他應該配一條素色的領帶。他偏偏要配一條花的。

Wǒmen gàosù tā yīnggāi pèi yì tiáo sùsè de lǐngdài. Tā piānpiān yào pèi yì tiáo huā de.

We told him to wear a plain-colored tie, but he just had to wear a patterned one.

5 為了在這裡做生意，我告訴他最好先和本地人建立良好的關係。他偏偏不聽。

Wèile zài zhèlǐ zuò shēngyì, wǒ gàosù tā zuìhǎo xiān hé běndì rén jiànlì liánghǎo de guānxi. Tā piānpiān bù tīng.

In order to get business done here, I told him it’s best to first build good relationships with locals, but he didn’t listen.

 

Usage

(1) This adverb has a stronger tone of annoyance than 倒 or 卻.

(2) When used for a deliberate action, 偏 can stand alone without duplication, but in this case it cannot be placed before the subject, e.g.,

1 我不想被家庭束縛，但她偏要生兒育女，所以我們就分手了。

Wǒ bù xiǎng bèi jiātíng shùfú, dàn tā piān yào shēngér yùnǚ, suǒyǐ wǒmen jiù fēnshǒu le.

I don’t want to be tied down with a family, but she insisted on having children, so we broke up.

2 我希望他不要去參加晚會。他偏要去。

Wǒ xīwàng tā bú yào qù cānjiā wǎnhuì. Tā piān yào qù.

I’m hoping that he would not go to the party, but he insisted on going.

3 我跟她說會下雨，但她偏不帶傘。

Wǒ gēn tā shuō huì xiàyǔ, dàn tā piān bú dài sǎn.

I told her it was going to rain, but she insisted on not taking an umbrella.