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right place at the right time

right place at the right time

18 3.9
Being where luck gives you the best chance to do well
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : estar en el lugar adecuado en el momento adecuado
  • She found a great job because she was in the right place at the right time.

I was proud to be in the right place at the right time.

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Examples

  • I was in the right place at the right time.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • I seem to have always been in the right place at the right time.

    Academic text (2009)
  • But they were in sort of the right place at the right time for quite a few of these things.

  • Just a matter of being the right place at the right time.

  • Because he was at the right place at the right time.

  • I just happened to show up at the right place at the right time.

  • I was just in the right place at the right time.

  • I am always at the right place at the right time.

  • You have to be in the right place at the right time.

  • Why do we always have to be in the right place at the right time?

Synonyms

fortunately
vsright place at the right time
425 2.5

By good luck, things turn out well

shows a person placed where conditions favor success, usually by chance
in luck
vsright place at the right time
36 1.6

Having something good happen by chance

describes being in circumstances most likely to bring success by chance

Antonyms

To be in a place where trouble happens by chance

How Fortunate

right place at the right time
  • Informal
18 3.9
serendipitous
10 7.4
lucky
1.0
unlucky
91 1.0

Surface Forms

Morphology

right + place + at + the + right + time

The meaning is directly and compositionally built from the constituents: being in the 'right' (correct/favourable) 'place' at the 'right' 'time' describes a situation where circumstances favour success. This literal, commonsense framing is cross-linguistically common and follows standard noun phrase composition, so a B1 learner who knows the words would readily infer the intended meaning.

Etymology

Right place at the right time gives the simple picture of someone standing in the right place at the right time exactly when something good happens. So, it means being in a situation where things happen to help you 'succeed' or get an opportunity 'by chance'.