almost; about the same
HSK level
差不多 (chàbuduō) means 'almost,' 'nearly,' or 'about the same,' and literally reads 'differ-not-much.'
It works as an adverb before verbs or numbers (差不多五点 'around five o'clock,' 差不多完成了 'almost finished') and as an adjective/predicate meaning 'roughly equal' (这两个差不多 'these two are about the same'). It also stands alone as 'that'll do / close enough.' English speakers should note two things: it doubles as both 'almost X' and 'X and Y are similar,' a range English splits between two words; and culturally 差不多 carries a famous connotation of 'good enough, not exact,' so a 差不多先生 ('Mr.
About-Right') is someone who settles for approximate. It is a high-frequency, distinctly spoken expression.
Note: Very common in casual speech. As a stand-alone judgment ('close enough / good enough') it can sound relaxed or even carelessly approximate, so avoid it when precision is expected in formal or technical contexts.
Character by character
Memory hook: 差 (differ) + 不多 (not much): the difference is not much — almost the same.
我们差不多到了。
Wǒmen chàbuduō dào le.
We're almost there.
spoken
这两件衣服的价钱差不多。
Zhè liǎng jiàn yīfu de jiàqian chàbuduō.
These two pieces of clothing cost about the same.
spoken
时间差不多了，我们该走了。
Shíjiān chàbuduō le, wǒmen gāi zǒu le.
It's about time; we should get going.
spoken
他每天差不多睡八个小时。
Tā měitiān chàbuduō shuì bā gè xiǎoshí.
He sleeps about eight hours a day.
neutral
差不多 is written with 19 strokes (差: 9, 不: 4, 多: 6). Tap replay to watch each character drawn again.
差点(儿) means 'nearly (but didn't)' — 差点儿迟到 ('almost was late, but wasn't'). It highlights a near-miss of an unwanted event. 差不多 means 'about the same / roughly,' without the near-miss drama.
不错 means 'not bad / pretty good' — a positive judgment. 差不多 means 'about the same / good enough,' which is more neutral or even resigned, not praise.
Acquire it by listening
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