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

• 他 的 头发几乎 全 白了 。Tā de tóufǎ jīhū quán báile.His hair is almost all white.
• 我 室友 几乎 每晚 都 要 去 酒吧。 Wǒ shìyǒu jīhū měiwǎn dōu yào qù jiǔbā . My roommates go to the bar almost every night .
• 创业 的 失败 让 他几乎 失去 了 所有 的 家产。 Chuàngyè de shībài ràng tā jīhū shīqù le suǒyǒu de jiāchǎn. He lost almost all of his property because of his fail in starting his own business.
• 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.
• 为了 给 妈妈 买 生日 礼物，我 几乎 花了 所有的 零花钱 。 wèile gěi māma mǎi shēngrìlǐwù,wǒ jīhū huā le suǒyǒu de línghuāqián. I almost spent all o my pocket money in order to get my mom a birthday gift.

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