幸亏 (xìngkuī), 幸好 (xìnghǎo), and 还好 (háihǎo) mean "fortunately"
or "luckily." They can be used to express that something has
happened by chance, and has thereby enabled you to avoid some
difficulty or bad luck. It is often followed with 不然 (which
precedes the bad thing that could have happened).
Expressing Luck with 幸亏 and
幸好
It's as simple is adding 幸亏 or 幸好 before the thing that makes
you feel lucky.
Structure
幸亏 / 幸好 + [Lucky Incident]（，+ 不然 ⋯⋯)
You can add in 不然 for an "otherwise... (this really bad thing
would have happened)" explanation.
Examples
- 幸亏 我们 打 车 来 的 ，不然 就 迟到 了
。Xìngkuī wǒmen dǎchē lái de,
bùrán jiù chídào le.Luckily, we came by taxi, otherwise we could have been
late.
- 幸好 我 妈 没 看到 ，不然 她 肯定 要 生气
。Xìnghǎo wǒ mā méi kàndào,
bùrán tā kěndìng yào shēngqì.It's a good thing that my mother didn't see it, otherwise
she would definitely be mad.
- 幸亏 有 你 在 ，不然 我 不 知道 怎么办 。Xìngkuī nǐ zài, bùrán wǒ bù
zhīdào zěnme bàn.Fortunately you're
here, otherwise I don't know what to do.
- 幸好 带 伞 了 ，不然 要 淋湿 了 。Xìnghǎo dài sǎn le,bùrán yào
línshī le.It's a good thing I brought
the umbrella. Otherwise, I would have gotten soaked.
- 幸好 现在 问题 解决 了 ，不然 老板 肯定 要 炒 你 的 鱿鱼
。Xìnghǎo xiànzài wèntí jiějué le,
bùrán lǎobǎn kěndìng yào chǎo nǐ de
yóuyú.Luckily, the problem is solved
now. Otherwise the boss is definitely going to fire
you.
Expressing Luck with 还好
“还好” can also mean “fortunately,” but is more colloquial than 幸好
or 幸亏. And if you want to add in 不然 for an "otherwise... (this
really bad thing would have happened)" explanation, use this
structure:
Structure
还好 + [Lucky Incident]， 不然……
Examples
- 还好 我 没 听 他 的 话，不然 我 就 输
了。Hái hǎo wǒ méi tīng tā de
huà,bùrán wǒ jiù shū le.It's a good thing I didn't listen to him, otherwise I would
have lost the game.
- 还好 我 保存 了，不然 文件 都 丢 了。Hái hǎo wǒ bǎocún le, bùrán
wénjiàn dōu diū le.Luckily I saved it,
otherwise I would have lost all of the documents.
- 还好 我 买 得 少，不然 都 浪费 了。Hái hǎo mǎi de shǎo, bùrán dōu
làngfèi le.Luckily I didn't buy a lot,
otherwise it would be all wasted.
- 还好 老板 不 知道，不然 你 肯定 被 炒
鱿鱼。Hái hǎo lǎobǎn bù zhīdào,
bùrán nǐ kěndìng bèi chǎo
yóuyú.Luckily the boss doesn't know
about it, otherwise you will definitely get fired.
- 还好 你 提醒 我，不然 我 肯定 忘 了。Hái hǎo nǐ tíxǐng wǒ, bùrán wǒ
kěndìng wàng le.Luckily, you reminded
me, otherwise I would have definitely forgotten.
See also
Sources and further
reading
Books
Dictionaries
Category:B1 grammar points