lucky 和 fortunate 均可表示“幸运的”，但 fortunate 比 lucky 更正式，多用于较重大的事情；而 lucky 则较口语化，多用于日常谈话中，且含有因侥幸或机缘而得到好运的意味。但若敝开此细微区别，两者在用法及句型搭配上有很多相似之处，具体应注意以下几点：

1. “他很幸运有一位好妻子”有如下说法：

正：He is fortunate/lucky in a good wife.

正：He is fortunate/lucky in having a good wife.

正：He is fortunate/lucky to have a good wife.

正：He is fortunate/lucky enough to have a good wife.

正：It is fortunate/lucky (for him) that he has a good wife.

2. 但严格说来，以上结构有时有细微区别的。后接不定式通常暗示主语的一种好运气，有时可能指一种侥幸；而后接 that 从句则通常指一件令人愉快的事情。比较：

He was lucky to pass the driving test. 暗示：He wasn’t really up to the standard.

It’s lucky that he passed the driving test. 暗示：Now he can drive himself to the station, take the children to the seaside, etc.

3. 在“somebody＋be fortunate/lucky＋不定式的一般式”中，若 be 为一般现在时 is, are 等，其后的不定式通常为静态动词。如：

He is fortunate to have a lot of friends there.

You are lucky to be alive after the accident.

4. 但是，若该结构中的动词 be 为过去式 (was, were) 或其后不定式不是一般式而是进行式或完成式等，则该不定式无此用静态动词的限制。如：

You are lucky/fortunate to be going by air.

He is lucky/fortunate to have escaped being caught. = He was lucky/fortunate to escape being caught.

但是一般不说：He is lucky/fortunate to escape being caught.