Expressing difficulty with "hao (bu) rongyi"

好不容易 (hǎo bù róngyì) means "very difficult" or "really not easy". It is often used where the speaker wants to comment on the result of their hard work, something like "It was really hard for me do to do x, but then I realized y".

Structure with 才

Sentences using 好不容易 are often followed by 才, emphasizing the action has been completed later than expected. Strange as it might seem, 好容易 has the same meaning as 好不容易, and can be used interchangeably.

Subject + 好容易/好不容易 + 才 + Verb，result sentence

Examples

• 我们 好不容易 才做完这个项目，结果 合同 取消 了。
• 我 好不容易 才 到 市 中心， 却 发现 没 带 手机，只好 回去 拿。
• 金融 危机 之后 他 好不容易 才 找到 工作，现在 又 辞职 了。
• 我 好不容易 才 打通 了 银行 的 服务 热线。

Structure without 才

在下面的结构中，只能用“好(不)容易”才表示“不容易”的意思，而且句末经常会用到“啊”“哦”等的语气词，表示一种感慨。

In the structure below one can only use “好(不)容易” to express “with great difficulty”, furthermore at the end of the sentence “啊” or “哦” will often be used to emphasise emotion in the speaker.

VO + 好容易/好不容易

Examples

• 要 完成 这 个 大 项目好不容易 啊。
• 养 大 一 个 孩子 好不容易。
• 创办 一 个 公司 好不容易 啊。

See also

• Easy to do something
• Difficult to do something

Sources and further reading

Books

HSK5