How to say “almost” in Chinese

差点儿

chàdiǎnr

almost, nearly

adjective · HSK 4 · topic “On the road: transportation”

“Almost” in Chinese is 差点儿, chà diǎn r: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.

How to pronounce it

差点儿 is read chà diǎn r: 3 syllables. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.

chà — 4th tonesharply falling, like “Stop!”

diǎn — 3rd tonelow, dipping and rising a little

r — neutral toneshort and unstressed

How to write it

差

chà — lack; poor

差不多 is “lacking a little”, that is, “almost”.

点

diǎn — dot; o'clock

At the bottom, 灬 “fire”.

儿

ér — child, son

At the end of a word it turns into an “r” sound: 一点儿.

Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “差点儿”.

Examples

Sentences from the course lessons with 差点儿. Tap the sound icon to listen.

我今天差点儿迟到。wǒjīntiānchàdiǎnrchídàoI was almost late today.
我差点儿忘了带护照wǒchàdiǎnrwàngledàihùzhàoI almost forgot to bring my passport.
我差点儿没赶上火车。wǒchàdiǎnrméigǎnshànghuǒchēI almost missed the train.
我差点儿没赶上飞机wǒchàdiǎnrméigǎnshàngfēijīI almost missed the plane.
前面的车突然刹车，我差点儿撞上。qiánmiàndechētūránshāchē,wǒchàdiǎnrzhuàngshàngThe car in front braked suddenly, and I almost crashed into it.
我差点儿上当wǒchàdiǎnrshàngdàngI almost got taken in.

More words from the lesson “Almost late”

Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.

Frequently asked questions

How do you say “almost” in Chinese?

“Almost” in Chinese is 差点儿, pinyin chàdiǎnr.

What does 差点儿 mean?

差点儿 (chàdiǎnr) means “almost, nearly”.

How do you write 差点儿?

差点儿 is 3 characters: 差 (chà) — lack; poor; 点 (diǎn) — dot; o'clock; 儿 (ér) — child, son. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.

How do you pronounce 差点儿?

差点儿 is read chàdiǎnr. Tones: chà — fourth tone, diǎn — third tone, r — neutral tone. The page has a native speaker recording.

“almost” in the lesson “Almost late”

This word is from the topic “On the road: transportation” of HSK 4. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.

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