Expressing good luck with "haihao"
还好 (háihǎo) mean "fortunately" or "luckily." It 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).
Structure
还好 + [Lucky Incident] ,不然 + [Bad Outcome]
Examples
- 还好 我们 打车 来 的 ,不然 就 迟到 了 。Luckily, we came by taxi. Otherwise we would have been late.
- 还好 我 妈 没 看到 ,不然 她 肯定 要 生气 。It's a good thing that my mother didn't see it. Otherwise she would definitely be mad.
- 还好 有 你 在 ,不然 我 真 不 知道 怎么办 。Fortunately you're here. Otherwise I really don't know what to do.
- 还好 带 伞 了 ,不然 肯定 淋湿 了 。It's a good thing I brought the umbrella. Otherwise, I would have definitely gotten soaked.
- 还好 我们 买 了 很多 ,不然 肯定 不够 。 Luckily, we bought a lot. Otherwise it wouldn't be enough.
- 还好 我 没 听 他 的 话,不然 就 输 了 。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 。Luckily I saved it. Otherwise I would have lost all of the documents.
- 还好 我 没 点 那么 多 菜 ,不然 都 浪费 了 。Luckily I didn't order that much food. Otherwise it would be all wasted.
- 还好 老板 不 知道 ,不然 你 肯定 被 炒 鱿鱼 。Luckily the boss doesn't know about it. Otherwise you will definitely get fired.
- 还好 你 提醒 我 了 ,不然 我 肯定 忘 了。Luckily, you reminded me. Otherwise I would have definitely forgotten.
See also
Sources and further reading
Books