好(不)容易: with great difficulty, finally
【六31】固定短语 / phrases
Tone colorsā tone 1á tone 2ǎ tone 3à tone 4a neutral
好不容易 and 好容易 mean exactly the same thing: "after much effort, at last". 好 intensifies 不容易 ("very hard"), and the 不 cancels nothing: it does not mean "not hard". The sentence reports an effort that finally paid off, usually with 才 or 终于: 我好不容易才订到包间.
They go after the subject, before the verb, and can open the sentence to stress the relief: 好容易放假了, …. The result is achieved; to say it was spoiled anyway, add that afterwards: 好不容易约到了，他还是没来.
Compare 终于 ("at last", with no stress on the effort) and 不容易 ("it isn't easy", a plain assessment). To say "easily", 好不容易 is out: use 很轻松 or 轻易.
Examples
我好不容易才买到一张票。
Wǒ hǎobùróngyì cái mǎi dào yì zhāng piào.I only just managed to get a ticket.
好容易放假了，你怎么还要加班？
Hǎoróngyì fàngjià le, nǐ zěnme hái yào jiābān?We finally have a holiday, so why do you still have to work overtime?
他好不容易才说服了妈妈。
Tā hǎobùróngyì cái shuōfú le māma.He only just managed to talk his mother round.
这孩子好不容易睡着了，别吵醒他。
Zhè háizi hǎobùróngyì shuìzháo le, bié chǎoxǐng tā.The child has only just got to sleep after all that trouble; don't wake him.
好不容易约到了医生，他却临时有事，没去成。
Hǎobùróngyì yuē dào le yīshēng, tā què línshí yǒu shì, méi qù chéng.He had a hard time getting an appointment with the doctor, and then something came up at the last minute and he couldn't go.
我们好容易才找到停车的地方，音乐会却已经开始了。
Wǒmen hǎoróngyì cái zhǎo dào tíngchē de dìfang, yīnyuèhuì què yǐjīng kāishǐ le.We finally found somewhere to park, but the concert had already started.
Common mistakes
✗ 他好不容易就把作业写完了 → ✓ 他好不容易才把作业写完了 (an effort that pays off takes 才 or 终于; 就 would say "easily, quickly").
✗ 这道题好不容易，我一下子就做出来了 → ✓ 这道题很容易 (好不容易 tells of the effort, never of ease; the 不 does not cancel it).