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What does "差不多" mean?chabuduo

Close enough / about the same / more or less.

Language
🇨🇳 Chinese
Pinyin
cha-boo-DWO
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How it's actually used

One of the most-used phrases in Mandarin. It answers "how far?", "how many?", and "is it done?" all at once. There is a famous satirical essay about "Mr. Almost" (差不多先生), so Chinese speakers are well aware of the word's reputation for vagueness.

Examples

Before you say it

If you need an exact answer, this word will not give you one — that is the joke about it.

Now actually use it out loud

Reading a definition isn't the same as saying it to someone. Lingo Kaiava is a voice tutor set to Chinese — it uses 差不多 the way locals do, corrects you in the moment, and never "fixes" the way real people actually talk into textbook Chinese.

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