We use the nounluckand the adjectiveluckyto talk about good things happening by chance, and not because of our own efforts:
A:Helen won first prize in an online competition, a two-week holiday in Italy.
B:Oh, that’s nice! I never have anyluck.I never win anything.
It was aluckycoincidence that the train was late, because I was also late getting to the station.
Luckandluckydo not mean the same ashappinessandhappy:
The most important thing in life is to findhappiness.
Not: …is to find luck.
My grandparents had a veryhappymarriage. They were together for 54 years.
Not: …a very lucky marriage.
Luckis an uncountable noun, so we do not use it with the indefinite articlea/an. We use expressions such assome, a bit ofora lot ofto express amounts of luck:
I’ve hada lot of luckwith jobs over the years.
Not:I’ve had a luck…
When we talk aboutluckin general, we don’t use the definite articlethe:
A lot of good things in life happen throughluckrather than through planning.
Not: …through the luck…
See also:
When do we use articles?
Good luck!,(The) best of luck!andI wish you luck!are common expressions we use to say that we hope good things will happen to someone. They are followed bywith:
A:I’ve got my driving test tomorrow.
B:Good luck!
A:Thanks.
Bestof luckwith your job interview!
Not:Best luck.