How to Say “With Great Difficulty” with 好不容易 (hǎo bù róngyì)
好不容易 (hǎo bù róngyì) means “with great difficulty / only just managed to,” the feeling of “finally, and it was really hard.” The famous quirk: 好容易 means exactly the same thing, the 不 doesn't negate. In the common pattern it takes 才: Subject + 好不容易 + 才 + result (我好不容易才买到票), often followed by a 结果 twist. It can also stand alone: 养大孩子好不容易 (“raising a child is hard”).
Why this trips learners up
好不容易 (hǎo bù róngyì) is the idiom for doing something “with great difficulty,” the “I finally managed it, and it was really hard” feeling. Here's the famous twist that trips up every learner: 好容易 (hǎo róngyì) means exactly the same thing as 好不容易, and the two are interchangeable (好不容易 is more common). Even though 容易 means “easy” and 不 usually means “not,” this whole expression means difficult. The 好 is the intensifier “very / so,” and the 不 here is idiomatic, not a real negation, so don't try to read it literally or the meaning will come out backwards.
Structure 1: the adverbial pattern with 才. This is the common one: Subject + 好(不)容易 + 才 + [Result]. 好不容易 describes the whole feat as won only through effort, and 才 (“only then”) drives home that it took all that struggle: 我好不容易才买到票 (“I finally got a ticket, and it was a struggle”), 他好不容易才把这本书看完 (“he got through this book only with great effort”). The result is something achieved, and the sentence very often turns sour right after, with 结果 (“as it turned out”): 我们好不容易才订到餐厅，结果他又不来了 (“we finally booked the restaurant, and then he bailed”). That “all that effort, and then…” letdown is 好不容易's signature mood.
Structure 2: the adjectival, standalone use. Here 好(不)容易 sits after a verb phrase to say “doing that is really hard,” with no 才: Verb Phrase + 好(不)容易, often closed with an emotional 啊 or 哦. 养大一个孩子好不容易啊 (“raising a child is really hard”), 在大城市买房子好不容易 (“buying a home in a big city is tough”). Same meaning, just used to rate the difficulty of a whole activity rather than to narrate one hard-won result.
Two warnings, both in the comparison below. First, don't mistake the 容易 inside it for “easy.” 好不容易 and 好容易 both mean difficult; if you actually mean “easy,” you want 很容易 or 太容易了, never 好容易. Second, keep it apart from 终于 (zhōngyú, “finally / at last”), which also shows up in “I finally did it” sentences. 终于 simply marks that an awaited thing happened at last (我终于买到票了); 好不容易 marks that it happened only through great struggle (我好不容易才买到票). When you want to stress how hard it was, reach for 好不容易; when you just mean “at last,” 终于.
The structure
Colour key
Each colour marks one grammatical role — and the same colour means the same role on every page in the Lab.
Examples in context
Real-world sentences, easiest first. Toggle pinyin or the translation, tap any word to see its role, or play the audio.
Tap a word to see its grammatical role.
wǒ 我 Subject hǎo bù róngyì 好不容易 Pattern cái 才 Adverb mǎi dào piào 买到票 Verb
I finally managed to get a ticket, and it wasn't easy (core 好不容易 + 才 + achievement).
tā 他 Subject hǎo bù róngyì 好不容易 Pattern cái 才 Adverb bǎ zhè běn shū kàn wán 把这本书看完 Verb
He got through this whole book only with great effort (好不容易才 + a 把 phrase).
yǎng dà yí ge háizi 养大一个孩子 Verb hǎo bù róngyì 好不容易 Pattern
Raising a child is really hard (the adjectival standalone use, no 才).
wǒmen 我们 Subject hǎo bù róngyì 好不容易 Pattern cái 才 Adverb dìng dào cāntīng 订到餐厅， Verb jiéguǒ tā yòu bù lái le 结果他又不来了 Connector
We finally managed to book the restaurant, and then he bailed on us (the classic 好不容易才…，结果… reversal).
tā 她 Subject hǎo róngyì 好容易 Pattern cái 才 Adverb bǎ gōngzuò zuò wán 把工作做完 Verb
She finished the work only with great difficulty (好容易, the identical twin of 好不容易, doing the same job).
pái le liǎng ge xiǎoshí de duì 排了两个小时的队， Other wǒ 我 Subject hǎo bù róngyì 好不容易 Pattern cái 才 Adverb jìnqù 进去 Verb
After queuing for two hours, I finally got in, and it was a struggle (a reason clause sets up the effort).
zài dà chéngshì mǎi fángzi 在大城市买房子 Verb hǎo bù róngyì 好不容易 Pattern a 啊 Pattern
Buying a home in a big city is really tough (adjectival, with an emotional 啊).
tā 他 Subject hǎo bù róngyì 好不容易 Pattern cái 才 Adverb jiè le yān 戒了烟， Verb méi xiǎngdào yòu chōu shàng le 没想到又抽上了 Other
He managed to quit smoking after great effort, and then, out of nowhere, took it up again (好不容易才 undone by a 没想到 reversal).
Common mistakes
Why it happens: 好不容易 means “with great difficulty,” not “easy,” so don't let the 容易 inside it fool you. 我好不容易买到了票，太轻松了 contradicts itself, because 太轻松了 (“so easy”) clashes with the struggle 好不容易 describes. If it really was hard, keep it hard: 我好不容易才买到票，累死了.
Why it happens: In the adverbial pattern, 好不容易 pairs with 才 (“only then”), not 就. 我好不容易就找到工作 is wrong, because 就 means “right away,” which contradicts the effort. It's 我好不容易才找到工作 (“I found a job only after great difficulty”). The 才 is what marks the struggle paying off at last.
Why it happens: 好容易 does not mean “very easy,” it means “with great difficulty,” exactly like 好不容易. So 这次考试好容易 can't mean the exam was a breeze. For genuinely “easy,” use 很容易 or 太容易了: 这次考试很容易，我没怎么复习就过了 (“the exam was easy, I passed without much studying”).
Compare & contrast
| 好不容易 hǎo bù róngyì (finally, but only through great difficulty, stresses the struggle) | 终于 zhōngyú (finally / at last, just marks that it happened, no comment on effort) | The difference |
|---|---|---|
| 我好不容易才买到票wǒ hǎo bù róngyì cái mǎi dào piào = “I finally got a ticket, and it was really hard” (好不容易: highlights the great effort it took) | 我终于买到票了wǒ zhōngyú mǎi dào piào le = “I finally got a ticket” (终于: simply marks that the awaited thing happened at last, no comment on effort) | 我好不容易才买到票 means “I finally got a ticket, and it was really hard,” 好不容易 highlighting the great effort it took. 我终于买到票了 means “I finally got a ticket,” 终于 simply marking that the awaited thing happened at last, with no comment on the struggle. Both say “finally,” but only 好不容易 dwells on how hard it was. |
| 养大孩子好不容易yǎng dà háizi hǎo bù róngyì = “raising a child is really hard” (好不容易 standing alone to rate the difficulty) | 孩子终于长大了háizi zhōngyú zhǎng dà le = “the child has finally grown up” (终于 marking the arrival of something awaited, never the difficulty) | 养大孩子好不容易 means “raising a child is really hard,” 好不容易 standing alone to rate the difficulty of a whole activity. 孩子终于长大了 means “the child has finally grown up,” 终于 marking the arrival of something long awaited, never the difficulty itself. One measures the effort; the other marks the timing. |
Try it yourself
Say “I finally managed to get a ticket (and it wasn't easy).” Use 好不容易 + 才 + result.
Related patterns
Quick reference card
How to Say “With Great Difficulty” with 好不容易 (hǎo bù róngyì) grammar.merrymandarin.com A pocket summary — print it and keep it by your desk.