必然

What it means

必然 means inevitability or necessity; it denotes that something will occur as a necessary consequence given conditions, rather than by chance.

Main meanings

• inevitability — hitsuzen
• necessity or unavoidable outcome — hitsuzensei
• the adjective form 必然的 meaning 'inevitable' — hitsuzenteki
• opposite or contrasting idea: 偶然 (guuzen) meaning coincidence or chance

How to use it

Used as a noun to express inevitability; in formal, philosophical, and analytical contexts it signals that a result is determined by conditions and not by random chance; can be followed by の, だ, or used in phrases with -性 or -的 to form related terms; in everyday speech it can appear when people feel a situation is unavoidable.