AdverbsHSK 5
Expressing difficulty with 好 (不) 容易
Both 好不容易 and 好容易 mean ‘with great difficulty’ and are interchangeable, though 好不容易 is more common. They are followed by 才 and a result, emphasizing that something was hard to achieve. Watch out: 好容易 does not mean ‘very easy’ despite its literal reading.
Structure
Subj. + 好 (不) 容易 + 才 + Result
Result can be a phrase or clause showing what was finally achieved; 好不容易 is more common.
Examples
- 她好容易才减肥成功。Tā hǎo róngyì cái jiǎnféi chénggōng.She had a hard time losing weight and succeeded.
- 我好不容易才打通了银行的服务热线。Wǒ hǎobù róngyì cái dǎtōng le yínháng de fúwù rèxiàn.It was no easy task to get through to the bank's customer service hotline.
- 我们好不容易才做完这个项目，结果合同取消了。Wǒmen hǎobù róngyì cái zuò wán zhège xiàngmù, jiéguǒ hétóng qǔxiāo le.It was with great difficulty that we finally finished this project. But then the contract was canceled.
- 金融危机之后他好不容易才找到工作，现在又辞职了。Jīnróng wéijī zhīhòu tā hǎobù róngyì cái zhǎodào gōngzuò, xiànzài yòu cízhí le.After the financial crisis, he had a hard time finally finding a job. And now he's resigning.
- 老师好容易才让学生订正了错误的句子。Lǎoshī hǎo róngyì cái ràng xuéshēng dìngzhèng le cuòwù de jùzi.The teacher had a difficult time making the students correct the wrong sentences.