Luck and lucky
We use the noun luck and the adjective lucky to talk about good things happening by chance, and not because of our own efforts:
A:
Helen won first prize in an online competition, a two-week holiday in Italy.
B:
Oh, that’s nice! I never have anyluck. I never win anything.
It was a lucky coincidence that the train was late, because I was also late getting to the station.
Warning:
Luck and lucky do not mean the same as happiness and happy: The most important thing in life is to find happiness.
Not: … is to find luck.
My grandparents had a very happy marriage. They were together for 54 years.
Not: … a very lucky marriage.
Luck is an uncountable noun, so we do not use it with the indefinite article a/an. We use expressions such as some, a bit of or a lot of to express amounts of luck: I’ve had a lot of luck with jobs over the years.
Not: I’ve had a luck …
When we talk about luck in general, we don’t use the definite article the: A lot of good things in life happen through luck rather than through planning.
Not: … through the luck …
See also:
When do we use articles?
Good luck!, (The) best of luck! and I wish you luck! are common expressions we use to say that we hope good things will happen to someone. They are followed by with:
A:
I’ve got my driving test tomorrow.
B:
Good luck!
A:
Thanks.
Best of luck with your job interview!
Not: Best luck.
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