“Almost” = chàbùduō 差不多 vs. chàyìdiǎn 差一点 Th - Cchatty

“Almost” = chàbùduō 差不多 vs. chàyìdiǎn 差一点

The word “almost” in English is almost always translated as chàbùduō 差不多. Chàyìdiǎn 差一点 is only used when something unfortunate or undesirable ALMOST happened.

Chàbùduō 差不多, which means “almost” or “nearly” is often used with dōu 都:

I almost have one thousand dollars.
Wǒ chàbùduō yǒu yìqiān kuài qián.
我差不多有一千块钱。

OR:
Wǒ yǒu chàbùduō yìqiān kuài qián.
我有差不多一千块钱。

Almost all my money is in the bank.
Wǒde qián chàbùduō dōu zài yínhánglǐ.
我的钱差不多都在银行里。

Chàyìdiǎn 差一点, which means “almost” and “nearly,” only in the sense of “just about . . . [verb that describes something undesirable]”:

I almost lost one thousand dollars (but didn’t, in the end, lose that money).
Wǒ chàyìdiǎn diū le yìqiān kuài qián.
我差一点丢了一千块钱。

I lost almost one thousand dollars (actually lost nearly one thousand dollars).
Wǒ chàbùduō diū le yìqiān kuài qián.
我差不多丢了一千块钱。

I almost couldn’t find the bank!
✔ CC: Wǒ chàyìdiǎn zhǎobudào nèige yínháng!
我差一点找不到那个银行！
✖ BC: Wǒ chàbùduō zhǎobudào nèige yínháng!
我差不多找不到那个银行！

I was almost late.
✔ CC: Wǒ chàyìdiǎn wǎn le.
我差一点晚了。
✖ BC: Wǒ chàbùduō wǎn le.
我差不多晚了。