by coincidence; as luck would have it
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 3 examplesadverb
by coincidence; just at that time
dialectUsed to describe a fortunate or coincidental timing of events, often in spoken Chinese. Has a dialectal flavor.
Wǒ我
zhèng正
qù去
tā他
jiā家
zhǎo找
tā他
，
piān偏
qiǎo巧
zài在
jiē街
shang上
pèng碰
jiàn见
le了
。
I was just going to his house to look for him when, by coincidence, I ran into him on the street.
Wǒ我
zhèng正
xiǎng想
gěi给
nǐ你
dǎ打
diàn电
huà话
，
piān偏
qiǎo巧
nǐ你
jiù就
lái来
le了
。
I was just thinking of calling you when, as luck would have it, you arrived.
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Nà那
tiān天
piān偏
qiǎo巧
xià下
dà大
yǔ雨
，
wǒ我
men们
zhǐ只
hǎo好
qǔ取
xiāo消
le了
jiāo郊
yóu游
。
That day, it just so happened to rain heavily, so we had to cancel the outing.