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.

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.

• give-a-piece-of-your-mind
• give a piece of your mind
• give-a-run-for-money
• give a run for their money
• give-as-good-as-get
• give as good as you get
• give a shout
• give-a-shout
• give a taste of their own medicine
• give a/the thumbs down
• give-a-the-thumbs-down
• give-a-the-thumbs-up
• give a/the thumbs up
• give a thumbs down
• give a thumbs up
• give a tickle
• give-a-tickle
• give-away
• give away
• giveaway
• giveaways
• give-a-whirl
• give a whirl
• give a wide berth
• give-a-wide-berth
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