HSK 6 grammar · pattern
好（不）容易
好（不）容易 — with great difficulty / only just
Pattern
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( ) can be left out · other words may come before, between and after
How it works
Curiously, both 好容易 and 好不容易 mean the same thing — "with great difficulty", "only just managed to". They usually pair with 才 to stress how hard-won the result was.
Examples
我好不容易才买到票。
Wǒ hǎo bù róngyì cái mǎi dào piào.
I only just managed to get a ticket.
好容易等到了周末。
Hǎo róngyì děng dào le zhōumò.
The weekend finally came, after such a wait.
他好不容易才把工作做完。
Tā hǎo bù róngyì cái bǎ gōngzuò zuò wán.
He finished the work only with great difficulty.
Related
See it in a story
In the app, 好（不）容易 is underlined wherever it appears in the stories you read, and practised with sentences from them. Free.