How to Say "Hard Luck" in French

pas de chance

The French phrase for 'hard luck' is pas de chance.

pas de chance is an informal expression used to describe a situation where someone is unfortunate or has experienced bad luck.

What does it mean word for word?

The phrase is composed of pas (no/not), de (of) and chance (luck), literally translating to 'no luck'.

In English, 'luck' is often paired with an adjective like 'bad', but the French expression uses the negation pas de to indicate the absence of luck.

The word chance in French comes from the Latin word for 'falling', which is the same root as the English word 'cadence'.
French speakers often use the phrase pas de chance as a standalone exclamation. In this context, it functions more like a sympathetic sigh than a full sentence.

Sa vie est marquée par l'infortune.
His life is marked by hard luck.
Je suis vraiment malchanceux(se) en amour.
I have hard luck in love.
J'ai perdu mes clés. Pas de chance!
I lost my keys. Hard luck!
Comme c'est dommage !
How unfortunate!
L'autobus est parti juste avant que je n'arrive à l'arrêt. Quelle malchance !
The bus left just before I arrived at the stop. What hard luck!
Quel dommage, pas de chance pour toi !
What a shame, hard luck for you!
Tu n'as pas de chance avec la météo.
You have no luck with the weather.
C'est vraiment dommage, tu n'as pas de chance.
It is a real shame, you have no luck.

Emma and Nathan are talking about a missed train.

Emma

Le train est déjà parti, pas de chance.
The train has already left, hard luck.
Nathan

Oui, on est arrivés trop tard.
Yes, we arrived too late.
Emma

On doit attendre le prochain.
We have to wait for the next one.
Nathan

C'est vrai, on n'a pas le choix.
That's true, we have no choice.

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