Definition
差不多 (chà bu duō) is a very common spoken word meaning 'almost, nearly' as an adverb (e.g., 差不多做完了) and 'about the same, not bad' as an adjective (e.g., 这两件差不多). Unlike the more formal 几乎 (jīhū), 差不多 is used in everyday speech; 差点儿 (chà diǎnr) implies 'narrowly avoided' rather than a general approximation. As an adjective, 差不多 is weaker than 不错 (bù cuò 'pretty good') and similar to 可以 (kěyǐ 'acceptable').
adverb
almostnearly
adjective
about the samesimilarnot bad
Examples
- 差不多。Wǒ chà bu duō zuò wán le.I'm almost done.
- 差不多。Tā shuō de Zhōngwén wǒ chà bu duō dōu néng tīng dǒng.I can understand almost all of the Chinese he speaks.
- 差不多。Zhè jiàn yīfu hé nà jiàn chà bu duō.This piece of clothing and that one are about the same.
Grammar
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