八九不离十

八九不離十

bājiǔbùlíshí

idiom #35,809

Meanings

1 pretty close
2 very nearly right
3 about eighty or ninety percent there

Characters

Examples

HSK 4

你的答案八九不离十。

Nǐ de dá'àn bājiǔbùlíshí.

Your answer is almost right.

HSK 5

我猜他的年龄，八九不离十。

Wǒ cāi tā de niánlíng, bājiǔbùlíshí.

My guess at his age is pretty close.

HSK 5

这事儿我估计得八九不离十。

Zhè shìr wǒ gūjì de bājiǔbùlíshí.

I'd say my estimate of this is pretty much on the money.

Tips

memory

Literally 'eight or nine, not far from ten' - you're in the 80-90% range, close enough to 10 (full/perfect) that you've nailed it.

Colloquial. Very common in speech, especially northern dialects. Often used with 猜 (guess) or 估计 (estimate).

Stroke Order

八 bā

九 jiǔ

不 bù

离 lí

十 shí