幸亏…不然…
luckily …, otherwise …
Structure
幸亏／多亏 有利的情况 ， 不然／否则 坏的结果
What it means
Luckily …, otherwise …: names a lucky circumstance and the bad result it prevented.
How it is built
幸亏／幸好 + lucky fact，不然／否则 + (就) + bad result: 幸亏带了伞，不然就淋湿了 (Lucky I brought an umbrella, or I would have been soaked).
When to use it
幸亏 and 幸好 mark a lucky circumstance; 多亏 thanks a person for help: 多亏了你. Spoken and neutral; 否则 is more formal than 不然, and 要不 is very colloquial.
Watch out
幸亏 states something that already happened, not a hope: ✗ 幸亏明天天气好 ✓ 希望明天天气好. It may stand before or after the subject: 幸亏我带了伞 / 我幸亏带了伞.
Examples
幸亏现在获取知识很方便，不然普通人很难看懂金融产品。
Luckily knowledge is easy to get now; otherwise ordinary people could hardly follow financial products.
幸亏带了伞，不然就淋湿了。
Lucky I brought an umbrella, or I would have been soaked.
Learn this in Lesson 57 · HSK 6: 存钱、炒股与理财 (Saving, stocks and money management)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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