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差不多 (chà bu duō) — (adverb) almost, nearly; (adjective) about the same, similar, not bad

Definition

Spans two uses: as an adjective it means 'about the same, not bad' (overlap with 不错 — 不错 is a flat judgment, 差不多 often compares two things); as an adverb it means 'almost' (interchangeable with 几乎 in most contexts).

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 zhōng wén wǒ chà bu duō dōu néng tīng dǒng.
    I can understand almost all of the Chinese he speaks.
  • 差不多。
    Zhè jiàn yī fu hé nà jiàn chà bu duō.
    This piece of clothing and that one are about the same.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

差chàdiffer
不多not much
不bùnot多duōmuch
偏正Modifier + head

差 means to differ, and 不多 means not much; together they suggest differing not much.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 來來láiwheat
  • 𠂇𠂇𠂇left hand

差 pairs 來 (wheat) with 𠂇 (left hand), showing wheat rubbed in a hand to remove its hull.

Open 差 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

多 originally showed two pieces of meat placed together; the repeated meat shape gives the sense of many.

Open 多 →

Grammar

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 3HSK 2.0 Level 41000 Most Frequent Chinese WordsComparison & Degree2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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