Meaning of 几乎
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- almost; nearly; practically
How to use 几乎
几乎 goes before a verb, adjective, or number phrase to say something is very close to complete or true. It is common in both speech and writing. Example: 我几乎每天都喝咖啡。(Wǒ jīhū měitiān dōu hē kāfēi.) I drink coffee almost every day.
几 (jī) can mean a small amount, and 乎 (hū) is a little particle. Think of 几乎 as "just a tiny bit short," which is what "almost" means.
Common mistake: In 几乎, 几 is read in the first tone (jī), not the third tone jǐ used in 几个 (jǐ gè, how many). Learners also mix up 几乎 with 似乎 (sìhū, it seems), but 几乎 means "almost" while 似乎 means "apparently."
几乎 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
几 jǐ · how many · 2 strokes
- 1
- 2
乎 hū · interrogative or exclamatory final part… · 5 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Related words
Words that share a character with 几乎.
| 似乎 | sìhū | it seems; seemingly; as if |
| 不在乎 | bùzàihu | not to care |
| 在乎 | zàihu | to rest with; to lie in; to be due to (a certain attribute); (often used in the negative) |
| 几率 | jīlǜ | probability; odds |
| 合乎 | héhū | to accord with; to conform to |
| 寥寥无几 | liáoliáo-wújǐ | (idiom) very few |
| 不亦乐乎 | bùyìlèhū | lit. isn't that a joy? (quote from Confucius); fig. (jocular) extremely; awfully |
| 几个 | jǐge | a few; several |
| 几天 | jǐtiān | several days |
| 几年 | jǐnián | a few years; several years; how many years? |
| 几次 | jǐcì | several times |
| 几点 | jǐdiǎn | what time?; when? |
Questions about 几乎
What does 几乎 mean?
几乎 (jīhū) means "almost; nearly; practically" and is used as a adverb.
How do you write 几乎?
几乎 is made of 2 characters: 几 (2 strokes), 乎 (5 strokes). That is 7 strokes in total.
Is 几乎 an HSK word?
Yes. 几乎 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 几乎 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 几乎 is written 幾乎.
What is the difference between 几乎 and 差点儿?
Both can mean "almost," but 差点儿 (chàdiǎnr) is more colloquial and usually describes something that nearly happened, often something bad, like 我差点儿迟到了 (I almost was late). 几乎 is more neutral and also works for amounts and degrees, like 几乎所有人 (almost everyone).
Is 几乎 often used with 都?
Yes. When 几乎 describes nearly all of a group or every time, it often pairs with 都, as in 几乎所有的学生都来了 (Almost all the students came). Leaving out 都 in these sentences can sound incomplete.