How to Say “What a coincidence” in Chinese
Small talk and travel · HSK 3
"What a coincidence" in Chinese is 真巧 (zhēn qiǎo). 巧 (qiǎo) literally means 'skillful' or 'clever', but paired with 真 (zhēn, 'really') it's the go-to expression for 'what a coincidence!' Chinese people use it constantly; running into a coworker at the supermarket, discovering you share a birthday, or finding out you both went to the same school. 好巧啊 adds the sentence-final particle 啊 (a) for a warm, surprised tone.
Primary translation
真巧
zhēn qiǎo
Variants by register
Formal
真是太巧了
zhēn shì tài qiǎo le
Casual
好巧啊
hǎo qiǎo a
When to use it
巧 (qiǎo) literally means 'skillful' or 'clever', but paired with 真 (zhēn, 'really') it's the go-to expression for 'what a coincidence!' Chinese people use it constantly; running into a coworker at the supermarket, discovering you share a birthday, or finding out you both went to the same school. 好巧啊 adds the sentence-final particle 啊 (a) for a warm, surprised tone. 真是太巧了 uses the 真是太...了 pattern to intensify; literally 'it really is too coincidental.' All three work across Mainland and Taiwan.
Example sentences
真巧，我也住在这里。
Zhēn qiǎo, wǒ yě zhù zài zhè lǐ.
What a coincidence, I also live here.
好巧啊，我们又见面了！
Hǎo qiǎo a, wǒ men yòu jiàn miàn le!
What a coincidence, we meet again!
真是太巧了，我们是同一天生日。
Zhēn shì tài qiǎo le, wǒ men shì tóng yī tiān shēng rì.
What a coincidence, we have the same birthday.