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JLPT N4Expressions

てよかった— Glad That / Good Thing I Did

Expresses relief or gladness, looking back, that an action was done. 'I'm glad I did X / It was good that X happened.'

Grammar path · 練習

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A short lesson: the pattern, its sentence anatomy, a quick quiz and a sentence to build.

Pro lessonUNIT 77 · EXPRESSIONS

Structure · 形

[Verb te-form] + よかった

Examples · 例文

  • 傘を持ってきてよかった！雨が降った。

    Kasa o motte kite yokatta! Ame ga futta.

    Good thing I brought an umbrella! It rained.

    持ってきて + よかった = glad I brought it

  • 日本語を勉強してよかったと思う。

    Nihongo o benkyou shite yokatta to omou.

    I think it was a good thing that I studied Japanese.

    勉強して + よかった = glad I studied

  • 予約しておいてよかった。店は人でいっぱいだった。

    Yoyaku shite oite yokatta. Mise wa hito de ippai datta.

    Good thing I made a reservation. The restaurant was packed.

    予約しておいて + よかった = glad I had booked ahead

Usage notes · 注意

  • Negative: なくてよかった = good thing I DIDN'T do X (行かなくてよかった = good thing I didn't go).
  • Contrast with ばよかった, which expresses regret about something NOT done (行けばよかった = I wish I had gone).

Commonly confused with

The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones てよかった is tested against.

vsばよかった

てよかった = relief/gladness that you DID something (行ってよかった). ばよかった = regret that you did NOT do something you wish you had (行けばよかった).

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