Chinese word

差点儿

Pronunciation

Pinyinchà diǎnr

Meaning

  • adverbalmost

Example

我差点儿迟到。wǒ chà diǎnr chí dào

I was almost late.

Illustration for 差点儿 (almost)

More examples

他上楼时差点儿摔倒。tā shàng lóu shí chà diǎnr shuāi dǎo

He almost fell while going upstairs.

Core concept

A result comes within a very small gap of happening, then remains unrealized.

Common phrases

  • 差点儿迟到chà diǎnr chí dào

    almost be late

  • 差点儿忘了chà diǎnr wàng le

    almost forget

  • 差点儿摔倒chà diǎnr shuāi dǎo

    almost fall

Similar words

差点chà diǎn: Marks an unwanted result that nearly happened but did not, often in writing.
险些xiǎn xiē: Shows that a danger, accident, or failure nearly happened but was avoided.
几乎jī hū: Shows that a state, amount, or action is very nearly at a given level.

Definition in Chinese

表示某事几乎发生但最终未发生，常用于强调险情或失败的未遂。biǎo shì mǒu shì jī hū fā shēng dàn zuì zhōng wèi fā shēng cháng yòng yú qiáng diào xiǎn qíng huò shī bài de wèi suì

Word origin

差 (chà, "fall short") + 点 (diǎn, "a little") form 差点儿 (chàdiǎnér, "almost"), with 儿 (ér, "r-suffix") marking its colloquial pronunciation.

Usage tips

  • In everyday accounts, it often frames lateness, mistakes, or other unwanted results as near misses rather than as neutral chances.

Opposites

Word lists with this word