bad things come in threes

English

Proverb

bad things come in threes

1. If an unfortunate event has already occurred twice, a third unfortunate event is likely to occur.

   Antonym: good things come in threes

Coordinate terms

• it never rains but it pours
• misfortunes never come singly

Translations

several unfortunate events usually occur together

• Arabic: لا تأتى المصائب فرادى (literally “misfortunes don't come singly”)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (no exact equivalent exists) 禍不單行／祸不单行 (zh) (huòbùdānxíng)

• Finnish: ei kahta ilman kolmatta (literally “no two without a third”) (not exclusively of bad things)
• French: jamais deux sans trois (fr)
• Italian: non c'è due senza tre (literally “there is no two without three”) (also “good things come in threes”)
• Polish: nieszczęścia chodzą parami (pl) (lit. misfortunes come in pairs)
• Portuguese: please add this translation if you can