These are all words for things that happen or the force that causes them to happen. 以上各词均指机遇、命运、运气。

• luck the force that causes good or bad things to happen to people 指机遇、命运、运气：◆This ring has always brought me good luck. 这戒指总是给我带来好运。
• chance the way that some things happen without any cause that you can see or understand 指偶然、碰巧、意外：◆The results could simply be due to chance. 这结果可能纯属意外。
• coincidence the fact of two things happening at the same time by chance, in a surprising way 指出人意料的巧合、巧事：◆They met through a series of strange coincidences. 他们因一连串奇妙的巧合而相遇。
• accident something that happens unexpectedly and is not planned in advance 指意外、偶然的事：◆Their early arrival was just an accident. 他们早到仅仅是偶然而已。
• fate the power that is believed to control everything that happens and that cannot be stopped or changed 指命运、天数、定数、天意：◆Fate decreed that she would never reach America. 命中注定她永远到不了美国。
• destiny the power that is believed to control events 指主宰事物的力量、命运之神：◆I believe there's some force guiding us—call it God, destiny or fate. 我认为有某种力量在指引着我们，称之为上帝也罢，天意也罢，或是命运也罢。

fate or destiny? 用 fate 还是 destiny？

• Fate can be kind, but this is an unexpected gift; just as often, fate is cruel and makes people feel helpless. Destiny is more likely to give people a sense of power: people who have a strong sense of destiny usually believe that they are meant to be great or do great things. * fate 有时是善意的，但那只是意外的恩赐；fate 也是残酷的，使人感到无能为力；destiny 更可能给人力量的感觉，have a strong sense of destiny 指人具有强烈使命感，通常认为自己必将不同凡响或成就伟业。

Patterns

• by …luck/chance/coincidence/accident
• It's no coincidence/accident that…
• pure/sheer luck/chance/coincidence/accident
• to believe in luck/coincidences/fate/destiny