¡qué suerte!
/ˈke ˈsweɾte/word by word
In Spanish, "how lucky" is expressed as ¡qué suerte!
The phrase is an exclamation used to express that someone has experienced a fortunate event. While ¡qué suerte! is a general exclamation of luck, if you want to describe a person as being a "lucky person", you would use the adjective afortunado/a instead of the noun suerte.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of qué (what/how) and suerte (luck).
Is it said differently in some regions?
In some Latin American countries, qué suertudo/a can be used as a colloquial variation to express how lucky.
How does it change in a sentence?
To specify that you are talking to a person, you can add the verb tener (to have) in the second person, as Spanish speakers often say 'how luck you have' instead of 'how lucky you are'.
How do you pronounce it?
/ˈke ˈsweɾte/
Did you know?
- In some Spanish-speaking cultures, saying ¡qué suerte! to someone might be seen as tempting fate or 'jinxing' the person.
- The word suerte shares an ancient root with the English word 'sort', referring to things that are 'sorted' or destined by fate.
- While ¡qué suerte! is used for luck, the word suerte also means 'sort' or 'kind' when referring to a category of things.
Examples in context
- ¡Qué suerte tiene usted de ganar la lotería!How lucky you are to win the lottery!
- ¡Qué suerte tienes de conseguir entradas gratis para el concierto!How lucky you are to get free tickets for the concert!
- ¡Qué suerte que viniste!How lucky that you came!
- ¡Qué suerte!How lucky!
- Ganaste el primer premio, ¡qué suerte!You won the first prize, how lucky!
Example conversation
Mateo and Lucía are talking about Lucía's new job.
- MateoLucía, me enteré de tu nuevo trabajo.Lucía, I heard about your new job.
- LucíaSí, empecé el lunes pasado.Yes, I started last Monday.
- Mateo¡Qué suerte!, te lo mereces mucho.How lucky!, you really deserve it.
- LucíaMuchas gracias, Mateo.Thank you very much, Mateo.
Sources
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (qué, suerte) and can differ in connected speech.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries qué, suerte, CC BY-SA 4.0.
