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。These places are all pretty much the same.
• 这里 的 房间 都 差不多。The rooms here are basically the same.
• 他们 的 年龄 差不多。Their ages are more or less the same.
• 我们 的 想法 差不多。Our ways of thinking are pretty much 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 pretty much all the same. I don't like any of them.
• 这 两 个 词 的 意思 差不多。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。Shanghai and New York are basically the same.
• 这 个 房间 跟 那 个 房间 都 差不多。This room and that room are almost the same.
• 他 的 年龄 和 她 的 年龄 差不多。His age and her age are almost the same.
• 我 的 想法 跟 他 的 想法 差不多。My computer and his computer are almost the same.
• 我 的 电脑 和 他 的 电脑 差不多。These two computers are almost the same.
• 大 杯子 跟 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 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 和 你 的 中文 水平 差不多。Our levels of Chinese are more or less the same.
• 这 件 衣服 和 那 件 衣服 都 差不多，我 都 不 喜欢。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。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 (de), can modify nouns.

Structure

Subject + Verb + 差不多 + 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"

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 clear which is a lot better and which is a lot worse.

Subject + 差 很 多

A 跟/和 B + 差 很 多

Examples

• 我 的 电脑 和 他 的 电脑 差很多。My computer is a lot worse than his computer.
• 大 杯子 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 她 的 年龄 差很多。His age and her age are really different/far apart.
• 我 的 想法 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 both just as hot.
• 两 个 地方 差不多 远。The two places are both just as far away.
• 在 这里，香蕉 跟 苹果 差不多 贵。Here the bananas and apples are just 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 the meeting is almost over.
• 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 over.
• 快点，球赛 差不多 开始 了。Hurry, the competition is almost 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） (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