All of a sudden meaning in English

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Definition

all of a sudden: suddenly, without warning, unexpectedly idiom

All of a sudden, Susie got mad at me. I really didn't see it coming.

Examples

"But then all of a sudden I stumbled and fell, hurting my ankle."
"Susie : All of a sudden?"

Exercise 1

Susie says to the mayor, "all of a sudden?". What is she expressing here?

The mayor's decision is unfair

The mayor's decision is quick and unexpected

This decision concerns everybody who lives in North East Africa

The mayor's decision does not surprise me

I don't know

Susie says to the mayor, "all of a sudden?". What is she expressing here?

The mayor's decision is unfair

Although Susie probably believes that the mayor's decision is unfair, "all of sudden" does not express this at all.

The mayor's decision is quick and unexpected

This is the best choice here. "All of a sudden" is a common English idiom meaning "quickly and unexpectedly". In this case, Susie is referring to the mayor's decision to build offices on Market Street.

This decision concerns everybody who lives in North East Africa

Don't confuse "all of a sudden" with "all of the Sudan". It's really unlikely that this confused you, but just in case we wrote a correction for you.

The mayor's decision does not surprise me

Because this is the first time that Susie hears of the mayor's intentions, it is likely that she is actually very surprised. This choice doesn't make sense.

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