Approximations with "chabuduo"

差不多 (chàbùduō) can be used as an adjective or an adverb to express that aspects of one or more things are close to each other or the difference between them is small.

"差不多" as an adjective

Simple Structure

Structure

Subject + 差不多

Examples

• 这 几 个 地方 都 差不多。These places are almost the same.
• 这里 的 房间 都 差不多。The rooms are almost the same.
• 他们 的 年龄 差不多。Their ages are almost the same.
• 我们 的 想法 差不多。Our way of thinking is almost the same.
• 这 两 个 电脑 差不多。These two computers are almost the same.
• 这 几 个 杯子 差不多，你 要 哪 个？These cups are almost the same, which one do you want?
• 这 两 家 餐厅 的 菜 都 差不多。These two restaurants' dishes are more or less the same.
• 我们 的 中文 水平 差不多。Our levels of Chinese are more or less the same.
• 这 些 衣服 都 差不多，我 都 不 喜欢。These clothes are almost the same, I don't like them.
• 这 两 个 词 的 意思 差不多。These two words' meanings are more or less the same.

Common Structure

Structure

还有一种常用的结构是: Another often used structure is:

A 跟/和 B + 差不多

Examples

With his age / her age almost. My idea with / and his thoughts about the same. My computer with / and his computer almost.

• 上海 跟/和 纽约 差不多。Shanghai and New York are almost the same.
• 这 个 房间 跟/和 那 个 房间 都 差不多。This room and that room are almost the same.
• 他 的 年龄 跟/和 她 的 年龄 差不多。His age and her age are almost the same.
• 我 的 想法 跟/和 他 的 想法 差不多。My computer and his computer are almost the same.
• 我 的 电脑 跟/和 他 的 电脑 差不多。These two computers are almost the same.
• 大 杯子 跟/和 小 杯子差不多，你 要 哪 个？These cups are almost the same, which one do you want?
• 这 家 餐厅 的 菜 跟/和 那 家 餐厅 的 菜 都 差不多。These two restaurants' dishes are more or less the same.
• 我 的 中文 水平 跟/和 你 的 中文 水平 差不多。Our levels of Chinese are more or less the same.
• 这 件 衣服 跟/和 那 件 衣服 都 差不多，我 都 不 喜欢。These clothes are almost the same, I don't like them.
• 这 个 词 的 意思 跟/和 那 个 词 的 意思 差不多。These two words' meanings are more or less the same.

Modify nouns

As an adjective, 差不多 can be placed directly after the subject of the sentence, and when coupled with a 的, can modify nouns.

Structure

Subject + Verb + 差 很 多 + 的 + Noun

Examples

• 我们 喜欢 差不多 的 菜。We like more or less the same food.
• 我们 有 差不多 的 中文 水平。We have more or less the same Chinese level.
• 这 两 个 词 有 差不多 的 意思。The two words almost have the same meaning.
• 我们 有 差不多 的 想法。We have more or less the same way of thinking.
• 他们 买 了 差不多 的 手机。They bought almost the same cellphone.
• 我 知道 很 多 差不多 的 餐厅。I know many similar restaurants.
• 我们 去 了 两 个 差不多 的 地方。We went to two similar places.
• 这 是 两 本 差不多 的 书。These two books are almost the same.
• 他们 买 了 差不多 的 衣服。They are wearing more or less the same clothes.
• 我们 有 差不多 的 电脑。We have more or less the same computer.

Antonym "差很多"

"差不多"作为形容词时，它的反义词是“差很多”。可以直接在上面的结构中，替换成”差很多“。

Structure

Subject + 差 很 多

A 跟/和 B + 差 很 多

Examples

• 我 的 电脑 跟/和 他 的 电脑 差很多。My computer is a lot worse than his computer.
• 大 杯子 跟/和 小 杯子差很多，你 要 哪 个？The big mug and the small mug have a big difference, which one do you want?
• 这 家 餐厅 的 菜 跟/和 那 家 餐厅 的 菜 都 差很多。This restaurant's dishes are a lot worse than that restaurant's dishes.
• 我 的 中文 水平 跟/和 你 的 中文 水平 差很多。My Chinese level is a lot worse than your Chinese level.
• 这 件 衣服 跟/和 那 件 衣服 都 差很多，我 都 不 喜欢。This dress is worse than that dress, I don't like it.
• 这 个 词 的 意思 跟/和 那 个 词 的 意思 差很多。The meaning of this word and the meaning of that word are really different.
• 上海 跟/和 纽约 差很多。Shanghai and New York are really different./Shanghai is a lot worse than New York.
• 这 个 房间 跟/和 那 个 房间 都 差很多。This room and that room are really different./This room is a lot worse than that room.
• 他 的 年龄 跟/和 她 的 年龄 差很多。His age and her age are really different/far apart.
• 我 的 想法 跟/和 他 的 想法 差很多。My way of thinking and his way of thinking is really different.

"差不多" as an adverb

When using 差不多 as an adverb, place it before the adjective or verb.

Structure

差不多 + Adj./Verb

Examples

• 这 两 个 孩子 差不多 大.These two children are more or less the same size.
• 我们 差不多 高。We are more or less the same height.
• 北京 和 上海 差不多 热。Beijing and Shanghai are just about as hot as one another.
• 两 个 地方 差不多 远。The two places are about as far away .
• 在 这里，香蕉 跟 苹果 差不多 贵。Here the bananas and apples are just about as expensive.
• 我 差不多 到 公园 门口 了。I'm almost at the entrance of the park.
• 我 觉得 会议 差不多 结束 了。I think meeting is almost done.
• 我 差不多 走 了 四 十 分钟。I walked for almost forty minutes.
• 工作 差不多 做 完 了。Work is almost complete.
• 快点，球赛 差不多 开始 了。Hurry, the competition is about to begin.
• 上海 的 老外 差不多 有 十 万。Shanghai has about 100,000 foreigners.
• 这 个 房间 很 小，差不多 能 住 三 个 人。This room is really small, about three people can live here.

“差不多" with a quantity or time phrase

"差不多"后面还可以加表示数量或者时间的短语。 After "差不多“ you can also add a phrase that expresses quantity or time.

Structure

差不多 + 数量短语/时间短语 (差不多 ＋ quantity phrase/ time phrase)

Examples

• 我 学 中文 差不多 两年 了。I have studied Chinese for about two years.
• 他 的 儿子 差不多 十 五 岁 了 吧？Is his son about 15 years old?
• 我们 走 了 差不多 一 个 小时 了。We walked for about an hour.
• 我们 公司 有 差不多 一百 个 人。Our company has about 100 people.
• 他 住 在 上海 差不多 三 个 月 了。He lived in Shanghai for almost three months.
• 我 认识 这里 差不多 一半 的 人。I know about half of the people here.
• 我 在 那里 工作 了 差不多 二 十 年。I worked there for almost twenty years.
• 差不多 两 个 星期 以前，我 见 过 他。About two weeks ago I saw him.
• 一 个 人 从 上海 去 杭州，需要 差不多 两 百 块 钱。A person going from Shanghai to Hangzhou needs about 200 dollars.
• 我们 结婚 差不多 十 年 了。We've been married for about ten years.

See also

• Expressing "almost" using "chadian mei"
• Expressing "almost" using "chadian"
• "Nearly" with "jihu"

Sources and further reading

Books

• 现代汉语八百词（增订本） (pp. 111) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 1 (pp. 54-5) →buy

Dictionaries

• 现代汉语词典（第5版） (pp. 145) →buy