差不多

chàbuduō

adverb HSK 2 #932

Meanings

Literally 'differ not much' — almost the same.

差不多了，我们走吧。

Chàbuduo le, wǒmen zǒu ba.

That's about enough, let's go.

我们差不多高。

Wǒmen chàbuduo gāo.

We're about the same height.

差不多到了。

Chàbuduo dào le.

We're almost there.

culture

差不多先生 (Mr. Chàbuduo) is a famous satirical essay by Hu Shi about a man who thinks everything is 'close enough.' It's a commentary on carelessness.

usage

差不多 is one of the most useful phrases in daily Chinese. It works as 'almost,' 'about,' 'more or less,' or 'good enough.'

差 chà

不 bù

多 duō