# May mà: fortunately in Vietnamese (B1)

> May means "lucky", and May mà or May là at the start of a sentence means "luckily" or "it's a good thing that": May mà em mang dù theo.

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/may-ma-luckily/ · Updated 2026-10-17

**fortunately**

Pattern: `May (mà / là) + [sentence]`

Level: B1 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

Typed without accents: may ma

Variants:

- may quá
- hên quá (Southern)
- cũng may

*May* means "lucky", and *May mà* or *May là* at the start of a sentence means "luckily" or "it's a good thing that": *May mà em mang dù theo.* Luckily I brought an umbrella. What follows is the thing that saved the day.

The trouble you avoided often comes next, after *không thì* (otherwise): *May mà có anh giúp, không thì em trễ rồi.* Luckily you helped, or I'd have been late.

On its own, *May quá!* means "Phew, that was lucky!" *Cũng may* is a calmer "at least", after something has gone wrong: *Cũng may là không ai bị gì.* At least nobody was hurt. In Saigon, *hên* is the everyday word for lucky: *Hên quá, vẫn còn vé!* Lucky, there are still tickets! In Hà Nội, *may quá*.

The opposite is *xui* (unlucky): *Xui quá!* What bad luck! In the news you'll see *may mắn là*, the written "fortunately": *May mắn là không có ai bị thương.* Fortunately, nobody was injured.

## Examples

- Saigon: May mà em mang dù theo. | Hà Nội: May mà em mang ô theo. — Luckily I brought an umbrella.
- Saigon: May mà có anh giúp, không thì em trễ rồi. | Hà Nội: May mà có anh giúp, không thì em muộn rồi. — Luckily you helped, or I'd have been late.
- Saigon: Hên quá, vẫn còn vé! | Hà Nội: May quá, vẫn còn vé! — Lucky, there are still tickets!
- Cũng may là không ai bị gì. — At least nobody was hurt.

## Compare

- [Unfortunately: tiếc là, rất tiếc](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/tiec-la-unfortunately/): unfortunately, it's a pity

Previous in Words at the start and end of a sentence: [It turns out: hóa ra, thì ra](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/hoa-ra-turns-out/)
Next in Words at the start and end of a sentence: [No wonder: hèn chi / thảo nào](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/thao-nao-no-wonder/)

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