十有八九

shíyǒubājiǔ

phrase #27,605

Meanings

1 most likely
2 in eight or nine cases out of ten
3 very probably
4 almost certainly

Characters

to have; out of

Examples

他十有八九是忘了这件事。

Tā shíyǒubājiǔ shì wàng le zhè jiàn shì.

He has most likely forgotten about this matter.

这个项目十有八九会成功。

Zhège xiàngmù shíyǒubājiǔ huì chénggōng.

This project will almost certainly succeed.

Tips

memory

十有八九 means '8 or 9 out of 10' — so if you had 10 chances, 8 or 9 would go the predicted way. That's 80–90% probability, i.e., 'most likely'.

Stroke Order

十 shí

有 yǒu

八 bā

九 jiǔ