Expressing "nearly" with "jihu"

几乎 (jīhū) 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.

Used before the Subject

主语经常受"每、所有、全"等指示代词修饰。

Structure

几乎 + Subj. + 都 + Verb / Adj.

Examples

• 几乎 每 个 人 都 有 手机。Jīhū měi gè rén dōu yǒu shǒujī.Almost everyone has a cell phone.
• 在 我们 公司，几乎 每 个 人 都 会 说 英文。Zài wǒmen gōngsī, jīhū měi gè rén dōu huì shuō Yīngwén.In our company, almost everyone can speak English.
• 在 中国，几乎 所有 老外 都 会 说 “你好”。Zài Zhōngguó, jīhū suǒyǒu lǎowài dōu huì shuō "nǐhǎo." In China, almost all of the foreigners can say "hello" in Chinese.
• 几乎 所有 人 都 相信 他 。Jīhū suǒyǒu rén dōu xiāngxìn tā.Almost everyone believes what he said.
• 几乎 全 世界 的 观众 都 喜欢 这 部 电影 。Jīhū quán shìjiè de guānzhòng dōu xǐhuan zhè bù diànyǐng.Almost all the audience in the world like this movie.

Used before the Predicate

Structure

Subj. + 几乎 + Predicate

Subj. + 几乎 + 都 + 不 + Predicate

Examples

• 爸爸 的 头发 几乎 白 了 。Bàba de tóufa jīhū bái le.Dad's hair is almost all white.
• 这 次 旅行 ，他们 几乎 花 了 所有 的 钱。Zhè cì lǚxíng tāmen jīhū huā le suǒyǒu de qián.They spent almost all the money on this trip.
• 他 一个人 几乎 吃 了 一整个 蛋糕 。Tā yī gèrén jīhū chī le yī zhěng gè dàngāo.He almost ate this whole cake by himself.
• 我 老板 几乎 不 喝酒 。Wǒmen jiā rén jīhū dōu bù hējiǔ. Almost all our family doesn't drink.
• 老板 这 几 个 月 几乎 没 好好 休息 过。 Lǎobǎn zhè jǐ gè yuè jīhū méi hǎohǎo xiūxi guò. The boss barely has taken any good rest for the recent few months.

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