Definition
偏巧 is an adverb meaning 'as luck would have it' or 'it just so happened that', often carrying a sense of coincidence that either helps or frustrates expectations. Unlike 恰好 (neutral 'exactly'), 偏巧 adds a nuance of 'contrary to what one might expect' or 'precisely at that inconvenient moment'. It usually appears before the verb in the pattern 'Subject + 偏巧 + Verb + ...' or at the start of a clause.
adv.
by chanceas luck would have it (often with a sense of irony or unexpectedness)
Examples
- ，偏巧。Wǒ zhèng yào chūmén, piān qiǎo xià qǐ dà yǔ lái le.I was just about to go out when, as luck would have it, it started pouring rain.
- 偏巧，。piān qiǎo nà tiān tā bú zài jiā, wǒ méi jiàn dào tā.As it happened, he wasn't home that day, so I didn't get to see him.
- ，偏巧。Wǒmen zhǎo le tā bàn tiān, piān qiǎo tā zài túshū guǎn lǐ.We looked for him for ages, and as luck would have it, he was in the library.
Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.