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差不多 chàbuduō — about the same, close enough, not much different

chàbuduō (fourth tone, falling)cha4buduo1

about the same, close enough, not much different

HSK 4· HSK 1–6 (classic)Level 2· 2021 three-band, nine-level proficiency standardadjectiveadverb
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Meanings

  1. about the same, close enough, not much different

    差, to fall short of, 不, not, 多, by much — "not lacking by much" is the whole idea in three characters. Said of two things, it puts them close enough not to bother distinguishing: 这两个差不多, these two are about the same.

    adjective

  2. almost, nearly, about

    adverb

    Before a number, a time or a verb, the same phrase measures how close something is to happening or being reached: 差不多八点了, it’s nearly eight; 差不多到了, we’re almost there.

Character breakdown

  • 不
    bù (fourth tone, falling)

    not, no — the general negative, placed before verbs and adjectives

    4 strokesRadical 一
  • 多
    duō (first tone, high and level)

    many, much; more; how (in questions of degree: 多大, 多远)

    6 strokes⿱夕夕Radical 夕

Example sentences

  • 这两件衣服的颜色差不多。這兩件衣服的顏色差不多。Zhè (fourth tone, falling) liǎng (third tone, dipping) jiàn (fourth tone, falling) yīfu (first tone, high and level) de (neutral tone) yánsè (second tone, rising) chàbuduō. (fourth tone, falling)···

    These two pieces of clothing are about the same colour.

  • 别着急，我们差不多到了。別著急，我們差不多到了。Bié (second tone, rising) zháojí, (second tone, rising) wǒmen (third tone, dipping) chàbuduō (fourth tone, falling) dào (fourth tone, falling) le. (neutral tone)···

    Don’t worry — we’re almost there.

Similar words

Words containing 不

Words containing 多