Chinese word

将近

Pronunciation

Pinyinjiāng jìn

Meaning

  • adverbalmost

Example

将近十点了。jiāng jìn shí diǎn le

It's almost ten o'clock.

Illustration for 将近 (almost)

More examples

他们等了将近一个小时，会议才开始。tā men děng le jiāng jìn yí gè xiǎo shí huì yì cái kāi shǐ

They waited almost an hour, and only then did the meeting start.

Core concept

A time or quantity lies just short of a target, with only a small gap left.

Common phrases

  • 将近十点jiāng jìn shí diǎn

    almost ten o'clock

  • 将近一个小时jiāng jìn yí gè xiǎo shí

    almost an hour

Similar words

几乎jī hū: Indicates that something is nearly true, nearly happens, or is nearly in a certain state.
快要kuài yào: Indicates that an event will happen very soon.
差不多chà bu duō: Indicates that amounts, degrees, or situations are roughly the same, with little difference.

Definition in Chinese

表示某事在时间或数量上与某一界限或目标相差甚微，常作副词使用，含有接近但未完全到达的含义。biǎo shì mǒu shì zài shí jiān huò shù liàng shàng yǔ mǒu yí jiè xiàn huò mù biāo xiāng chà shèn wēi cháng zuò fù cí shǐ yòng hán yǒu jiē jìn dàn wèi wán quán dào dá de hán yì

Word origin

将 (jiāng, "be about to") + 近 (jìn, "near") combines the ideas of nearing a boundary and not quite reaching it.

Usage tips

  • This adverb commonly comes directly before a clock time, date, age, distance, or count, which makes it useful for giving precise approximate information.

Opposites

Word lists with this word