Luckily: may (mà), may là

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.