Writing
差不多 (chà bu duō) — how to say "almost" in Chinese
差不多
Almost, nearly
adjective · adverb of likelihood
How to use it
Goes before the verb and says how likely it is.
我们差不多到了。
wǒ men chà bu duō dào le
We are almost there.
Character composition
差
to differ, bad
不
not
多
many
Radicals / Keys
夕
Evening
#36 · xī · 3 strokes
工
Work
#48 · gōng · 3 strokes
一
One
#1 · yī · 1 stroke
Synonyms
Collocations
差不多十点
chàbuduō shí diǎn
around ten o'clock
差不多一样
chàbuduō yīyàng
almost the same
差不多完成
chàbuduō wánchéng
almost finished
Examples
我们两个人的想法差不多，都同意这个计划。
Our ideas are almost the same, we both agree with this plan.
差不多好了。
Almost ready.
Mnemonic
[chà bu duō-] Cha Bu Duo the hedgehog filled his basket with apples and, without counting, announced, "Nearly ten!" His friends laughed, "Cha Bu Duo, you're saying 差不多 again!" 🦔🍎
Frequently asked questions
How to say almost in Mandarin?
"almost" in Chinese is 差不多 (chà bu duō).
差不多 meaning in English
差不多 (chà bu duō) means "Almost, nearly".
How is 差不多 pronounced?
It is pronounced chà bu duō (written as cha bu duo, chabuduo). You can listen to the pronunciation on this page.
How do you write "almost" in Chinese characters?
It is written 差不多: 差 has 9 strokes, 不 has 4 strokes, 多 has 6 strokes. The Writing section above animates the stroke order of each character and lets you trace it.
What HSK level is 差不多?
差不多 belongs to the HSK 4 vocabulary list.
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