Usage Note
Afortunado describes a person blessed by luck or fortunate circumstances. The opposite is desafortunado. The adverb afortunadamente (fortunately) is extremely common in Spanish, often placed at the start of a sentence as a discourse marker. Do not confuse with rico (rich) — afortunado refers to fortune in the sense of luck, not wealth.
Examples
"Fue muy afortunado de sobrevivir al accidente."
Natural Translation
He was very lucky to survive the accident.

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