third time lucky

[beachboy]

- Next year I´ll be third time lucky here
- Next year (it) will be third time lucky for me
Are these sentences correct and common in everyday English?

 

[emsr2d2]

- Next year I´ll be third time lucky here
No, we don't use "third time lucky" with personal verbs.

- Next year (it) will be third time lucky for me
Yes, this is possible although if something hasn't happened yet, you can't be absolutely sure that it will be lucky. Perhaps "Next year will hopefully be third time lucky for me".

Are these sentences correct and common in everyday English?

See above.

 

[SoothingDave]

I am not a teacher, but I am a native speaker.

The idea I think you are trying to say is usually, in my experience, expressed as a proverb:

"The third time is the charm."

The phrase "third time lucky" is not one I've ever heard.

 

[beachboy]

I heard the expression today in an interview given by a Swedish tennis player called Robin Soderling, right after losing the French Open Final for the second time in a row, while receiving the trophy. But I couldn´t understand exactly what he said...

 

[SoothingDave]

Well, maybe the tennis player was receiving his English proverbs secondhand. :-D

I know how poor my Spanish is (I'm working in Mexico right now) and don't envy anyone trying to understand and use a foreign language. Especially one like English.

The third time's the charm. Always better to say after winning the third time than after losing the second.

(Also implied in the proverb is the idea that if you can not do it after trying three times, you might as well stop.)

 

[Raymott]

I heard the expression today in an interview given by a Swedish tennis player called Robin Soderling, right after losing the French Open Final for the second time in a row, while receiving the trophy. But I couldn´t understand exactly what he said...

"Third time lucky" is common in AusE.
A: I've lost twice, but I'm going to have another go.
B: Well, third time lucky, you know!

 

[emsr2d2]

"Third time lucky" is common in AusE.
A: I've lost twice, but I'm going to have another go.
B: Well, third time lucky, you know!

Yes, this phrase is also very common in BrE. If someone has done something unsuccessfully (or badly!) twice and decides to try one more time, then we would say "Third time lucky!"

It works for anything from simply not successfully cooking a dish the first couple of times, to having been married and divorced twice!

 

[Tdol]

I heard the expression today in an interview given by a Swedish tennis player called Robin Soderling, right after losing the French Open Final for the second time in a row, while receiving the trophy. But I couldn´t understand exactly what he said...

Next year would be third time lucky would work better I think, as he can't be that sure he's going to win, especially as luck has gone against him.

 

[emsr2d2]

Next year would be third time lucky would work better I think, as he can't be that sure he's going to win, especially as luck has gone against him.

I'm not sure we can entirely blame luck - I think Nadal and Federer might have had something to do with it! :-D

 

[beachboy]

Aha, they certainly did!! Thanks!

 

[BobK]

Well, maybe the tennis player was receiving his English proverbs secondhand. :-D
...

Nope. He just hasn't mastered the American language. ;-)

b

 

[SoothingDave]

Nope. He just hasn't mastered the American language. ;-)

b

Divided by a common language. At least that's the way we put it over here.

 

[Tdol]

I'm not sure we can entirely blame luck - I think Nadal and Federer might have had something to do with it! :-D

Even more reason to play safe and use would. ;-)