Нам пощастило.

The most natural translations are:

• We got lucky.
• We were lucky.
• We were fortunate.

Very often it refers to a specific situation or outcome, not a general personality trait. So it usually means something like luck was on our side in that situation.

Because Ukrainian uses a different structure here from English.

• ми = we as a subject
• нам = to us / for us in the dative case

In Нам пощастило, the idea is closer to:

• Luck happened to us
• It turned out luckily for us

So нам marks the people who experienced the luck, not the grammatical subject in the usual English sense.

Нам is the dative case form of ми.

The pronoun forms are:

• ми = we
• нас = us
• нам = to us

In this sentence, the dative is used for the experiencer: the people to whom something fortunate happened.

You will see the same pattern with other pronouns too:

• Мені пощастило. = I got lucky.
• Тобі пощастило. = You got lucky.
• Йому пощастило. = He got lucky.
• Їй пощастило. = She got lucky.

Because this is an impersonal construction.

In Ukrainian, some expressions do not have a normal personal subject like я, ти, ми, etc. In the past tense, impersonal predicates often appear in the neuter singular form.

So:

• пощастило is the impersonal past form
• it does not agree with нам

That is why you say:

• Нам пощастило

and not a form that matches we.

This is similar in structure to other impersonal Ukrainian sentences, where English often uses it or just a normal subject-verb structure.

Sort of, yes — at least as a way to help an English speaker understand it.

A very literal English-style gloss would be something like:

• To us, it was lucky
• It lucked out for us

But Ukrainian does not need an actual word corresponding to English it here. The sentence is complete as it stands:

• Нам пощастило.

So there is no separate subject word in the sentence, even though English often wants one.

No, not in this meaning.

Пощастити in the sense of to be lucky / to work out fortunately for someone is used impersonally, so the normal pattern is:

• Мені пощастило
• Нам пощастило
• Їм пощастило

A sentence like Ми пощастили sounds wrong for this meaning.

If you want to say we were happy, that is a different idea and a different adjective:

• Ми були щасливі. = We were happy.

So be careful not to mix up lucky and happy.

Yes.

They all come from the same root:

• щастя = luck, fortune, happiness
• щасливий = happy; lucky
• пощастило = was lucky / got lucky

That can be confusing, because the root can connect both to happiness and good fortune. In Нам пощастило, the meaning is specifically about luck / good fortune, not emotional happiness.

So:

• Нам пощастило. = We got lucky.
• Ми щасливі. = We are happy.

This is a matter of aspect, which is very important in Ukrainian.

• щастило = imperfective
• пощастило = perfective

In practice:

• Нам щастило. = We were having luck / We used to be lucky / Luck was going our way.
• Нам пощастило. = We got lucky / We were lucky on that occasion.

So пощастило usually points to a specific successful outcome or a single fortunate event, while щастило can describe repeated, ongoing, or general luck.

Yes. Ukrainian word order is flexible.

The neutral order is:

• Нам пощастило.

But you may also hear:

• Пощастило нам.

The basic meaning stays the same, but the emphasis changes.

• Нам пощастило = neutral, straightforward
• Пощастило нам = stronger focus on it was us who got lucky

So word order in Ukrainian often helps show emphasis, not just grammar.

You add не before the verb:

• Нам не пощастило. = We were not lucky. / We had bad luck.

This is a very common phrase too.

For example:

• Нам не пощастило з погодою. = We were unlucky with the weather.

Usually just use intonation in speech:

• Нам пощастило? = Did we get lucky? / Were we lucky?

In writing, the question mark is enough.

Ukrainian often forms yes/no questions without needing an extra word like English did.

Yes, very often.

A common pattern is:

• Нам пощастило + infinitive

For example:

• Нам пощастило знайти квитки. = We were lucky to find tickets.
• Нам пощастило побачити його. = We were lucky to see him.

You can also add a phrase with з to say what area the luck concerned:

• Нам пощастило з роботою. = We were lucky with work.
• Нам пощастило з погодою. = We were lucky with the weather.