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

HSK 2

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.

HSK 4

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