Complex Sentence PatternsHSK 4

Expressing good luck with 还好

还好 introduces a lucky or fortunate event. It is typically paired with 不然 to state what bad outcome was avoided. Make sure the clause after 不然 often uses 就 or 肯定 to emphasize the contrast.

Structure

还好 + [Lucky Incident] ，不然 + [Bad Outcome]

Examples

还好我们打车来的，不然就迟到了。
Háihǎo wǒmen dǎchē lái de, bùrán jiù chídào le.
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。
Háihǎo 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.
还好有你在，不然我真不知道怎么办。
Háihǎo yǒu nǐ zài, bùrán wǒ zhēn bù zhīdào zěnme bàn.
Fortunately you're here. Otherwise I really wouldn't have known what to do.
还好带伞了，不然肯定淋湿了。
Háihǎo dài sǎn le, bùrán kěndìng línshī le.
It's a good thing I brought the umbrella. Otherwise, I would have definitely gotten soaked.
还好你提醒我了，不然我肯定忘了。
Háihǎo nǐ tíxǐng wǒ le, bùrán wǒ kěndìng wàng le.
It's a good thing you reminded me. Otherwise, I would have definitely forgotten.