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chà yìdiǎnr
Almost / nearly (差一点儿)
差一点儿 means 'almost' or 'nearly'; something was very close to happening.
Anchor example
我差一点儿迟到。
Wǒ chà yìdiǎnr chídào.
I was almost late.
HSK 2
HSK 2
1
1 structures
10
10 exercises
Lesson summary
Subject + 差一点儿 + Verb Phrase: 差一点儿 means 'almost' or 'nearly'; something was very close to happening.
Use 差一点儿 before a verb phrase to say an event nearly happened: 差一点儿迟到, 差一点儿忘了. With bad results, it often means luckily it did not happen. Context decides whether the thing actually happened, so add 没 if you need to be clear.
Grammar pattern
Subject + 差一点儿 + verb phrase
Almost did something; nearly reached a result.
我差一点儿迟到。
Wǒ chà yìdiǎnr chídào.
I was almost late.
他差一点儿忘了带手机。
Tā chà yìdiǎnr wàng le dài shǒujī.
He almost forgot to bring his phone.
我们差一点儿没赶上车。
Wǒmen chà yìdiǎnr méi gǎnshàng chē.
We almost didn't catch the bus.
Fill in the blank: