HSK 7
幸亏⋯⋯ ，要不然/不然/要不/否则⋯⋯
xìng kuī ⋯ ⋯ ， yào bù rán / bù rán / yào bù / fǒu zé ⋯ ⋯
The structure fortunately... otherwise...
Explanation
This is a hypothetical compound sentence (a sentence with two or more clauses joined by conjunctions) expressing a fortunate thing that happened, thanks to which a bad outcome was avoided: "幸亏… ，要不然/不然/要不/否则…".
幸亏 (xìng kuī) + [the fortunate thing that happened] ，要不然/不然/要不/否则 (yào bù rán / bù rán / yào bù / fǒu zé) + [the bad outcome hypothesized if that had not occurred]. The first clause is a fact, the second clause is a hypothesis contrary to fact.
when expressing relief or gratitude for good luck; very common in everyday communication.
the words "要不然/不然/要不" lean toward colloquial (spoken language); "否则" (fǒu zé) is more formal, suited to written usage. "幸亏" is close in meaning to "多亏" (duō kuī), but "多亏" emphasizes "thanks to someone/something" and is usually followed by a good thing, whereas "幸亏" emphasizes the good luck of having avoided a bad thing.
putting a good outcome (instead of a bad one) in the clause after "要不然" (a logical error — the following clause must be the hypothesized bad thing); omitting the "要不然…" clause, leaving the sense of "luckily" hanging.
Examples
Luckily you reminded me, otherwise I would have forgotten.
Luckily I had your help, otherwise I really wouldn't have known what to do.
Practice
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Learn “幸亏⋯⋯ ，要不然/不然/要不/否则⋯⋯” effectively
The grammar point “幸亏⋯⋯ ，要不然/不然/要不/否则⋯⋯” (The structure fortunately... otherwise...) is one of the key structures at HSK 7. To use it fluently, you need to understand the contexts where it's used and practice regularly.
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