多亏 (thanks to)

• Pinyin: duōkuī
• Formation: (Good Outcome +) 多亏 (了) + Person / Clause
• Hanzi breakdown: 多 = 夕 (evening) × 2, meaning many; 亏 = simplified from 虧, meaning to owe or lose

Meaning

The verb 多亏 means 'thanks to' or 'fortunately because of' and attributes a positive outcome to a specific person, action, or circumstance. It expresses gratitude and recognition that things could have gone badly without the mentioned factor.

多亏 literally combines 多 (much) and 亏 (owe/be indebted), creating the sense of 'owe much to.' It is used exclusively for positive outcomes — you cannot use 多亏 to attribute blame for negative results. The pattern often appears with 了 after 多亏 for a more colloquial feel. 多亏 can precede a person (多亏了你) or a clause (多亏他提醒了我). It differs from 幸亏, which emphasizes narrow escape from a bad outcome, while 多亏 focuses on gratitude toward the contributing factor. In formal writing, 多亏 may be replaced by 有赖于 or 归功于, but in spoken Chinese, 多亏 is the natural choice.

Examples

1. 多亏了你的帮忙，我才按时完成了论文。 Thanks to your help, I was able to finish my thesis on time.
2. 这次能顺利通过面试，多亏了老师的指导。 Being able to pass the interview smoothly was thanks to my teacher's guidance.
3. 多亏他及时发现了问题，不然损失就大了。 Thanks to him discovering the problem in time, otherwise the losses would have been huge.

Usage Guide

Context: spoken, written, everyday

Tone: grateful

Do Say

• 多亏了邻居帮我照顾孩子，我才能安心去上班。
• 项目成功上线，多亏团队每个人的付出。
• 多亏你提前订了票，不然我们今天就走不了了。

Don't Say

• 多亏了下雨，我们的旅行泡汤了。(多亏 can only be used for positive outcomes — for negative results caused by something, use 因为 or 都怪) → 都怪下雨，我们的旅行泡汤了。
• 我多亏完成了作业。(多亏 must attribute the outcome to an external factor — it cannot describe the speaker's own action without acknowledging who or what helped) → 多亏了你的帮忙，我才完成了作业。

Origin & History

The word 多亏 literally means 'owe much' — from 多 (much) and 亏 (to owe, to be in debt). This sense of indebtedness naturally extended to expressing gratitude for factors that contributed to a fortunate outcome.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal