几乎 (nearly/almost)

• Pinyin: jīhū
• Formation: 几乎 + Subj. + 都 + Verb / Adj. / 几乎 + 不/没 + Verb
• Hanzi breakdown: 几 = 几 (small table radical), extended to mean 'how many' or 'nearly'; 乎 = classical particle expressing approximation

Meaning

Expresses that something is very close to a certain state or action, meaning 'nearly' or 'almost.' When used with 都, it emphasizes that the near-totality applies to all members of a group. It can modify both verbs and adjectives.

The adverb 几乎 indicates approximation to a complete state and is one of the most versatile 'nearly' expressions in Chinese. It often pairs with 都 when referring to groups or totality, creating the pattern 几乎...都... meaning 'almost all.' Unlike 差点 which focuses on events that nearly happened with a fortunate or unfortunate implication, 几乎 is neutral and factual. It can appear before the subject or after it, and works with positive and negative predicates. In formal writing, 几乎 is preferred over the more colloquial 差不多. It is also used in constructions like 几乎不 (hardly ever) and 几乎没有 (barely any).

Examples

1. 几乎所有同事都参加了年终聚会。 Almost all colleagues attended the year-end party.
2. 他几乎每天都坚持跑步五公里。 He runs five kilometers almost every day.
3. 这场暴风雨几乎摧毁了整个村庄。 The storm nearly destroyed the entire village.

Usage Guide

Context: spoken, written, everyday, formal

Tone: factual

Do Say

• 这条街上几乎每家店都在打折促销。
• 他几乎把所有积蓄都投入了那个项目。
• 由于交通管制，路上几乎看不到车辆。
• 她几乎没有犹豫就答应了这份工作。

Don't Say

• 几乎人都来了。(When using 几乎...都 to mean 'almost all,' a quantifier like 所有 or 每个 is needed before the noun) → 几乎所有人都来了。
• 这部电影几乎很好看。(几乎 expresses approximation to a state, not a degree — it cannot modify 很 + Adj.; use 几乎 with a result or action instead) → 这部电影好看极了。

Origin & History

The character 几 originally meant 'small table' but acquired the meaning of 'how much' or 'nearly' in classical Chinese. Combined with 乎, a classical sentence-final particle indicating approximation, 几乎 literally means 'approximately to the point of' and has been used since ancient Chinese texts.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal