碰巧 pèngqiǎo by chance
by chance; by coincidence; to happen to
How to remember 碰巧: 碰 to touch + 巧 skillful = by chance.
Characters
How it is used
- As luck would have it / by coincidence - 我碰巧遇到了老同学 (wǒ pèngqiǎo yùdào le lǎo tóngxué) I happened to run into an old classmate.
- An adverb before the verb. Similar to 恰好 (qiàhǎo), but 碰巧 stresses pure chance, while 恰好 can mean a convenient exactness.
Example sentences
- 节日和考试碰巧在同一天。 Jiérì hé kǎoshì pèngqiǎozài tóngyītiān.The date of the festival coincides with that of the exam.
- 没多久，我们又碰巧遇到了。 Méiduōjiǔ, wǒmen yòu pèngqiǎo yùdào le.It was not long before we met again by chance.