Expressing "nearly" with "jihu"

几乎 means 'nearly', 'almost' or 'practically', and is used to emphasize that someone or something 'almost' meets a certain standard or is close to doing something.

Structure

Subject + 几乎 + Adjective/Verb/[Verb phrase]

Examples

• 这 个 运动员 的 表现 几乎 完美，但是 分数 很 低。Zhè ge yùndòngyuán de biǎoxiàn jīhū wánměi, dànshì fēnshù hěn dī.The athlete's performance was almost perfect, but his rank was still low.
• 他的头发几乎白了 。Tā de tóufǎ jīhū báile.His hair is almost white.
• 你 看 她 几乎 要 哭 了，别 问 了。Nǐ kàn tā jīhū yào kūle, bié wènle.She's about to cry, don't ask her.
• 如果 你 不 提醒 我，我 几乎 忘 了。Rúguǒ nǐ bù tíxǐng wǒ, wǒ jīhū wàngle.If you didn't remind me, I almost forgot about it.
• 他几乎有一百辆车。Tā jīhū yǒu yībǎi liàng chē.He has almost one hundred cars.

See also

• Expressing "almost" using "chadian"
• Approximations with "chabuduo"

Sources and further reading

Books

• Chinese Grammar - Broken down into 100 items - Basic and Intermediate Levels (汉语语法百项讲练 - 初中级) (pp. 134-6)→buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 1 (p. 241) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 4 (新实用汉语课本4) (p. 40) →buy