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HSK 4

差不多

almost; about the same

adverbspoken1 episode
差
chà4th tone
不
bù4th tone
多
duō1st tone

HSK level

1
2
3
4
5
6
Pinyin
chàbuduō
Part of speech
adverb
Level
HSK 4
Strokes
19
Register
spoken
In episodes
1

Stroke order for 差不多

差不多 is written with 19 strokes (差: 9, 不: 4, 多: 6). The animation replays automatically.

What does 差不多 mean?

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

差chàto differ; short of; lacking
+
不bùnot
+
多duōmuch; many
=
差不多

Memory hook: 差 (differ) + 不多 (not much): the difference is not much — almost the same.

Hear 差不多 in real episodes

差不多 appears in 1 Fluentide podcast episode at natural native speed — each with the full Chinese script, pinyin, and line-by-line English translation.

Florida Pays People to Hunt Pythons. One Man Caught 96 in 10 Days.差不多 spoken at natural speedmedium
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Example sentences

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

Common phrases with 差不多

差不多了chàbuduō lealmost done; close enough
差不多一样chàbuduō yíyàngroughly the same
差不多的时候chàbuduō de shíhouaround the same time
差不多先生chàbuduō xiānshengMr. Good-Enough (careless type)

Synonyms

几乎jīhū

几乎 ('almost / nearly') is more written and stresses being very close to a point, often used with negatives (几乎不 'hardly'). 差不多 is spoken and adds the 'roughly equal / good enough' flavor 几乎 lacks.

大概dàgài

大概 ('roughly / probably') estimates quantity or expresses likelihood. 差不多 emphasizes closeness or near-completion; 大概 leans toward guessing a figure or a probability.

Don't confuse 差不多 with

差点chàdiǎn

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búcuò

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.

FAQ

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