Approximations with "chabuduo"

差不多 (chàbùduō), translated literally, would be "the difference is not much." So it basically means "more or less," and is useful for expressing rough approximations. It can be used as an adjective or an adverb.

"差不多" as an Adjective

Simple Structure

When several things are 差不多 (chàbùduō), it means they are "more or less the same." (The part that means "the same" is understood in Chinese.)

Structure

Subject + 差不多

Examples

• 这 几 个 地方 都 差不多。Zhè jǐ gè dìfāng dōu chàbùduō .These places are all pretty much the same.
• 这里 的 房间 都 差不多。Zhèlǐ de fángjiān dōu chàbùduō .The rooms here are all basically the same.
• 他们 的 年龄 差不多。Tāmen de niánlíng chàbùduō .Their ages are more or less the same.
• 我们 的 想法 差不多。Wǒmen de xiǎngfǎ chàbùduō .Our ways of thinking are pretty much the same.
• 这 两 个 电脑 差不多。Zhè liǎng gè diànnǎo chàbùduō .These two computers are almost the same.
• 这 几 个 杯子 差不多，你 要 哪 个？Zhè jǐ gè bēizi chàbùduō , nǐ yào nǎ gè?These cups are almost the same. Which one do you want?
• 这 两 家 餐厅 的 菜 都 差不多。Zhè liǎng jiā cāntīng de cài dōu chàbùduō .These two restaurants' dishes are all more or less the same.
• 我们 的 中文 水平 差不多。Wǒmen de Zhōngwén shuǐpíng chàbùduō .Our levels of Chinese are more or less the same.
• 这 些 衣服 都 差不多，我 都 不 喜欢。Zhèxiē yīfú dōu chàbùduō , wǒ dōu bù xǐhuān.These clothes are pretty much all the same. I don't like any of them.
• 这 两 个 词 的 意思 差不多。Zhè liǎng gè cí de yìsi chàbùduō .These two words' meanings are more or less the same.

Common Structure

Again, when two things are said to be 差不多 (chàbùduō), it means they are "more or less the same." (The part that means "the same" is understood in Chinese.)

Structure

Another often used structure is:

A 跟/和 B + 差不多

Examples

• 上海 和 纽约 差不多。Shànghǎi hé Niǔyuē chàbùduō .Shanghai and New York are basically the same.
• 这 个 房间 跟 那 个 房间 都 差不多。Zhè gè fángjiān gēn nàgè fángjiān dōu chàbùduō .This room and that room are almost the same.
• 他 的 年龄 和 她 的 年龄 差不多。Tā de niánlíng hé tā de niánlíng chàbùduō .His age and her age are almost the same.
• 我 的 想法 跟 他 的 想法 差不多。Wǒ de xiǎngfǎ gēn tā de xiǎngfǎ chàbùduō .My way of thinking and his way of thinking are almost the same.
• 我 的 电脑 和 他 的 电脑 差不多。Wǒ de diànnǎo hé tā de diànnǎo chàbùduō .My computer and his computer are almost the same.
• 大 杯子 跟 小 杯子差不多，你 要 哪 个？Dà bēizi gēn xiǎo bēizi chàbùduō , nǐ yào nǎ gè?The big glass and small glass are almost the same. Which one do you want?
• 这 家 餐厅 的 菜 跟 那 家 餐厅 的 菜 都 差不多。Zhè jiā cāntīng de cài gēn nà jiā cāntīng de cài dōu chàbùduō .This restaurant's dishes and that restaurant's dishes are more or less the same.
• 我 的 中文 水平 和 你 的 中文 水平 差不多。Wǒ de Zhōngwén shuǐpíng hé nǐ de Zhōngwén shuǐpíng chàbùduō .My Chinese level and your Chinese level are more or less the same.
• 这 件 衣服 和 那 件 衣服 都 差不多，我 都 不 喜欢。Zhè jiàn yīfú hé nà jiàn yīfú dōu chàbùduō , wǒ dōu bù xǐhuān.This piece of clothing and that piece are pretty much the same. I don't like either of them.
• 这 个 词 的 意思 跟 那 个 词 的 意思 差不多。Zhè gè cí de yìsi gēn nàgè cí de yìsi chàbùduō .This word's meaning and that word's meaning are more or less the same.

Modify nouns

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

Structure

Subject + Verb + 差不多 + 的 + Noun

Examples

• 我们 喜欢 差不多 的 菜。Wǒmen xǐhuān chàbùduō de cài.We like more or less the same food.
• 我们 有 差不多 的 中文 水平。Wǒmen yǒu chàbùduō de Zhōngwén shuǐpíng.We have more or less the same Chinese level.
• 这 两 个 词 有 差不多 的 意思。Zhè liǎng gè cí yǒu chàbùduō de yìsi.The two words have almost the same meaning.
• 我们 有 差不多 的 想法。Wǒmen yǒu chàbùduō de xiǎngfǎ.We have more or less the same way of thinking.
• 他们 买 了 差不多 的 手机。Tāmen mǎile chàbùduō de shǒujī.They bought almost the same cell phone.
• 我 知道 很 多 差不多 的 餐厅。Wǒ zhīdào hěnduō chàbùduō de cāntīng.I know many similar restaurants.
• 我们 去 了 两 个 差不多 的 地方。Wǒmen qùle liǎng gè chàbùduō de dìfāng.We went to two similar places.
• 这 是 两 本 差不多 的 书。Zhè shì liǎng běn chàbùduō de shū.These two books are almost the same.
• 他们 买 了 差不多 的 衣服。Tāmen mǎile chàbùduō de yīfú.They bought more or less the same clothes.
• 我们 有 差不多 的 电脑。Wǒmen yǒu chàbùduō de diànnǎo.We have more or less the same computer.

Antonym "差很多"

When 差不多 (chàbùduō) is an adjective, it literally means "the difference is not much." The opposite, then would be 差很多 (chà hěn duō), which literally means "the difference is very great." Less literally, if 差不多 (chàbùduō) means "more or less the same," then 差很多 (chà hěn duō) means "not the same at all."

Structure

This first pattern tells you the two are not roughly equal, but it's not always clear which is a lot better and which is a lot worse. Sometimes it just means they're "very different."

Subject + 差 很 多

A 跟/和 B + 差 很 多

Examples

• 我 的 电脑 很 不 好用，哥哥 的 电脑 很 好用。 我们 的 电脑 差 很 多 。Wǒ de diànnǎo hěn bù hǎo yòng, gēgē de diànnǎo hěn hǎo yòng. Wǒmen de diànnǎo chà hěn duō.My computer is hard to use, but my older brother's is easy to use. There's a big difference between our computers.
• 你 的 中文 好 ，我 的 中文 不 好 。我们 的 中文 差 很 多 。Nǐ de Zhōngwén hǎo, wǒ de Zhōngwén bù hǎo. Wǒmen de Zhōngwén chà hěnduō.Your Chinese is good, and mine isn't good. There's a big difference in our Chinese.
• 这 家 餐厅 的 中国 菜 很 不 好吃 ，跟 那 家 餐厅 的 差 很 多 。Zhè jiā cāntīng de Zhōngguó cài hěn bù hào chī, gēn nà jiā cāntīng de chà hěn duō.This restaurant's Chinese food is really not good. It's a lot worse than that restaurant's.
• 我 的 年龄 跟 他 的 年龄 差 很 多 。Wǒ de niánlíng gēn tā de niánlíng chà hěn duō .His age and her age are really far apart.
• 我 的 看法 和 他 的 看法 也 差 很 多 。Wǒ de kànfǎ hé tā de kànfǎ yě chà hěn duō.My views and his views are also quite different.
• 很 多 人 觉得 上海 和 纽约 差不多，但是 我 觉得 上海 和 纽约 差 很 多 。Hěnduō rén juédé Shànghǎi hé Niǔyuē chàbùduō, dànshì wǒ juédé Shànghǎi hé Niǔyuē chà hěn duō.A lot of people think that Shanghai and New York are more are less the same, but I think that there's a big difference between Shanghai and New York.
• 这 两 个 方法 都 可以，但是 结果 会 差 很 多 。 Zhè liǎng gè fāngfǎ dōu kěyǐ, dànshì jiéguǒ huì chà hěn duō.Both of these methods are OK, but the results are going to be very different.
• 这 两 个 词 的 意思 差不多，但是 用法 差 很 多 。Zhè liǎng gè cí de yìsi chàbùduō, dànshì yòngfǎ chà hěn duō.The meanings of these two words are basically the same, but their usages are very different.
• 中国 和 日本 的 文化 差 很 多 ，所以 中国 人 和 日本 人 的 想法 也 差 很 多 。Zhōngguó hé Rìběn de wénhuà chà hěnduō, suǒyǐ Zhōngguó rén hé Rìběn rén de xiǎngfǎ yě chà hěn duō.Chinese and Japanese culture are very different, so the views of Chinese people and Japanese people are also very different.
• 他们 的 工作 能力 差 很 多 ，所以 他们 做 的 工作 不 一样 。Tāmen de gōngzuò nénglì chà hěn duō, suǒyǐ tāmen zuò de gōngzuò bù yīyàng.Their work capabilities are quite different, so the work they d is not the same.

"差不多" as an adverb

When using 差不多 (chàbùduō) 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。Zhè liǎng gè háizi chàbùduō dà.These two children are more or less the same size.
• 我们 差不多 高。Wǒmen chàbùduō gāo.We are more or less the same height.
• 北京 和 上海 差不多 热。Běijīng hé Shànghǎi chàbùduō rè.Beijing and Shanghai are both just as hot.
• 两 个 地方 差不多 远。Liǎng gè dìfāng chàbùduō yuǎn.The two places are both just as far away.
• 在 这里，香蕉 跟 苹果 差不多 贵。Zài zhèlǐ, xiāngjiāo gēn píngguǒ chàbùduō guì.Here the bananas and apples are just as expensive.
• 我 差不多 到 公园 门口 了。Wǒ chàbùduō dào gōngyuán ménkǒule.I'm almost at the entrance of the park.
• 我 觉得 会议 差不多 结束 了。Wǒ juédé huìyì chàbùduō jiéshùle.I think the meeting is almost over.
• 我 差不多 走 了 四 十 分钟。Wǒ chàbùduō zǒu le sìshí fēnzhōng.I walked for almost forty minutes.
• 工作 差不多 做 完 了。Gōngzuò chàbùduō zuò wán le.Work is almost over.
• 快点，球赛 差不多 开始 了。Kuài diǎn, qiúsài chàbùduō kāishǐle.Hurry, the competition is almost about to begin.
• 上海 的 老外 差不多 有 十 万。Shànghǎi de lǎowài chàbùduō yǒu shí wàn.Shanghai has about 100,000 foreigners.
• 这 个 房间 很 小，差不多 能 住 三 个 人。Zhè gè fángjiān hěn xiǎo,chàbùduō néng zhù sān gèrén.This room is really small, about three people can live here.

“差不多" with a quantity or time phrase

After 差不多 (chàbùduō) you can also add a phrase that expresses quantity or time. This makes it clear that you're giving a rough estimate.

Structure

差不多 ＋ quantity phrase / time phrase

Examples

• 我 学 中文 差不多 两年 了。Wǒ xué Zhōngwén chàbùduō liǎng niánle.I have studied Chinese for about two years.
• 他 的 儿子 差不多 十 五 岁 了 吧？Tā de érzi chàbùduō shíwǔ suìle ba?His son should be about 15 years old now, right?
• 我们 走 了 差不多 一 个 小时 了。Wǒmen zǒu le chàbùduō yīgè xiǎo shí le.We've been walking for about an hour.
• 我们 公司 有 差不多 一百 个 人。Wǒmen gōngsī yǒu chàbùduō yībǎi gèrén.Our company has about 100 people.
• 他 住 在 上海 差不多 三 个 月 了。Tā zhù zài Shànghǎi chàbùduō sān gè yuèle.He has lived in Shanghai for about three months.
• 我 认识 这里 差不多 一半 的 人。Wǒ rènshí zhèlǐ chàbùduō yībàn de rén.I know about half of the people here.
• 我 在 那里 工作 了 差不多 二十 年。Wǒ zài nàlǐ gōngzuòle chàbùduō èrshí nián.I worked there for almost twenty years.
• 差不多 两 个 星期 以前，我 见 过 他。Chàbùduō liǎng gè xīngqí yǐqián, wǒ jiànguò tā.About two weeks ago I met with him.
• 一 个 人 从 上海 去 杭州，需要 差不多 两 百 块 钱。Yīgè rén cóng Shànghǎi qù Hángzhōu, xūyào chàbùduō liǎng bǎi kuài qián.A person going from Shanghai to Hangzhou needs about 200 dollars.
• 我们 结婚 差不多 十 年 了。Wǒmen jiéhūn chàbùduō shí niánle.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） (p. 111) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 1 (pp. 54-5) →buy
• Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar (p. 116) →buy

Dictionaries

• 现代汉语词典（第5版） (p. 145) →buy