差不多 (chàbuduō): “More or Less” and “About”
差不多 (chàbuduō) means “more or less”, “about” or “almost”. As a predicate it says two things are about the same (A 跟/和 B 差不多); before an adjective, verb or number it softens to “almost” or “around”.
Why this trips learners up
差不多 (chàbuduō) is one of the most useful — and most quintessentially Chinese — words you'll pick up. Literally it's “the difference (差) is not (不) much (多)”, and it lands right around English “more or less”, “about”, “almost” or “pretty much”. Whenever something is close enough — same-ish, roughly so many, nearly done — 差不多 is the word.
The one thing to nail is where it goes. As a predicate it sits at the end and means “about the same”: 我们的想法差不多 (“our ideas are more or less the same”), usually with 跟 or 和 linking the two things (A 跟 B 差不多). Everywhere else it goes in front of what it softens — before an adjective or verb for “almost” (差不多好了 = “almost ready”), or before a number for “about” (差不多五十块 = “around 50 kuai”). Get the position right and 差不多 does an enormous amount of work.
The structure
Colour key
Each colour marks one grammatical role — and the same colour means the same role on every page in the Lab.
Examples in context
Real-world sentences, easiest first. Toggle pinyin or the translation, tap any word to see its role, or play the audio.
Tap a word to see its grammatical role.
wǒmen de àihào 我们的爱好 Subject chàbuduō 差不多 Pattern
Our hobbies are pretty much the same.
wǒ de shǒujī 我的手机 Subject gēn 跟 Connector nǐ de 你的 Object chàbuduō 差不多 Pattern
My phone is about the same as yours.
zhè jǐ běn shū 这几本书 Subject dōu 都 Adverb chàbuduō 差不多 Pattern
These books are all more or less the same.
zhè liǎng tiáo lù 这两条路 Subject chàbuduō 差不多 Pattern cháng 长 Adjective
These two roads are about the same length.
wǒ 我 Subject chàbuduō 差不多 Pattern xiěwán 写完 Verb le 了 Function word
I'm almost done writing.
zhè jiàn yīfu 这件衣服 Subject chàbuduō 差不多 Pattern liǎngbǎi 两百 Number kuài 块 Measure word
This piece of clothing is about 200 kuai.
tā 他 Subject lái 来 Verb Zhōngguó 中国 Object chàbuduō 差不多 Pattern wǔ 五 Number nián 年 Measure word le 了 Function word
He's been in China for about five years.
wǒmen 我们 Subject chàbuduō 差不多 Pattern dào 到 Verb le 了 Function word
We're almost there.
Common mistakes
Why it happens: 差不多 goes in front of the amount it estimates, not after it. “My son is about five” is 我儿子差不多五岁, never 我儿子五岁差不多. Think of 差不多 as “about / around” — it leads, and the number follows.
Why it happens: 差不多 means the difference is small (“about the same”). Swap in 差很多 (“differ a lot”) and you've said the opposite: 我们的水平差不多 means your levels are similar, while 差很多 means they're worlds apart. One little 不 flips the whole meaning.
Why it happens: To compare two specific things, link them with 跟 or 和 first: 我的车跟他的车差不多 (“my car is about the same as his”). Just standing the two nouns next to each other — 我的车他的车差不多 — leaves the sentence ungrammatical.
Compare & contrast
| 差不多 — more or less the same | 一样 — exactly the same | The difference |
|---|---|---|
| 我们差不多高。wǒmen chàbuduō gāo. | 我们一样高。wǒmen yīyàng gāo. | 我们差不多高 leaves room for a small gap — roughly the same height. 我们一样高 means identical, no difference at all. |
| 这两个差不多。zhè liǎng gè chàbuduō. | 这两个一样。zhè liǎng gè yīyàng. | 这两个差不多 = close enough, basically the same. 这两个一样 = the same, full stop. |
Try it yourself
Say “He and I are about the same height” — tap the words into order.
Related patterns
Quick reference card
差不多 (chàbuduō): “More or Less” and “About” grammar.merrymandarin.com A pocket summary — print it and keep it by your desk.