差不多

Chinese

		differ from; short of; to lack differ from; short of; to lack; poor; send; a messenger; a mission; to commission; uneven; difference; discrepancy; to differ; error; to err; to make a mistake	not; no	many; much; a lot of many; much; a lot of; numerous; multi-
trad. (差不多)		差	不	多
simp. ^#(差不多)		差	不	多

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): chàbuduō

(Zhuyin): ㄔㄚˋ ˙ㄅㄨㄉㄨㄛ
Cantonese (Jyutping): caa¹ bat¹ do¹
Gan (Wiktionary): ca¹ biit do¹
Eastern Min (BUC): chă-bók-dŏ̤
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): chha-put-to / chha-bun-to / chhat-to

(Teochew, Peng'im): ca¹ bug⁴ do¹
Xiang (Changsha, Wiktionary): ca¹ bu do¹

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: chàbuduō
  - Zhuyin: ㄔㄚˋ ˙ㄅㄨㄉㄨㄛ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: chàbůduo
  - Wade–Giles: chʻa⁴-pu⁵-to¹
  - Yale: chà-bu-dwō
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chahbuduo
  - Palladius: чабудо (čabudo)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʰä⁵¹ b̥u¹ tu̯ɔ⁵⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: caa¹ bat¹ do¹
  - Yale: chā bāt dō
  - Cantonese Pinyin: tsaa¹ bat⁷ do¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: ca¹ bed¹ do¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰaː⁵⁵ pɐt̚⁵ tɔː⁵⁵/
Gan
- (Nanchang)
  - Wiktionary: ca¹ biit do¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰa⁴² pɨt̚² to⁴²/
Eastern Min
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: chă-bók-dŏ̤
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰa⁵⁵⁻²¹ ^(p-)βuʔ²⁴⁻²¹ to⁵⁵/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chha-put-to
  - Tâi-lô: tsha-put-to
  - Phofsit Daibuun: zha'putdoy
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sʰa³³ put̚⁵⁻²⁴ to³³/
  - IPA (Taipei): /t͡sʰa⁴⁴⁻³³ put̚³²⁻⁴ to⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /t͡sʰa⁴⁴⁻²² put̚³²⁻⁵ to⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Xiamen): /t͡sʰa⁴⁴⁻²² put̚³²⁻⁴ to⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡sʰa⁴⁴⁻³³ put̚³²⁻⁴ tɤ⁴⁴/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chha-bun-to
  - Tâi-lô: tsha-bun-to
  - Phofsit Daibuun: zha'bundoy
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sʰa³³ bun³³ to³³/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chhat-to
  - Tâi-lô: tshat-to
  - Phofsit Daibuun: zhatdoy
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sʰat̚⁵⁻²⁴ to³³/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: ca¹ bug⁴ do¹
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tsha puk to
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰa³³⁻²³ puk̚²⁻⁴ to³³/
Xiang
- (Changsha)
  - Wiktionary: ca¹ bu do¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰa̠³³ pu³ to³³/

Adjective

差不多

similar; about the same; good enough
這幾個電影都差不多。 [MSC, trad.]
这几个电影都差不多。 [MSC, simp.]
Zhè jǐ ge diànyǐng dōu chàbuduō. [Pinyin]
All these movies are pretty much the same.
- 紅糖白糖不是差不多嗎？ [MSC, trad.]
  红糖白糖不是差不多吗？ [MSC, simp.]
  From: 1924, Hu Shih, 差不多先生傳 ("The Life of Mr. Close Enough")
  Hóngtáng báitáng bùshì chàbuduō ma? [Pinyin]
  Brown sugar and white sugar, aren't they close enough?
not bad
(Zhangzhou Hokkien) good (of one's behavior)

Synonyms

(similar): (regional) 不大離／不大离 (bùdàlí)

Adverb

差不多

almost; nearly
我們差不多高。 [MSC, trad.]
我们差不多高。 [MSC, simp.]
Wǒmen chàbuduō gāo. [Pinyin]
We are nearly the same height.

差不多一個年／差不多一个年 ― chàbuduō yīge nián ― almost a year
- 無仝 ê新聞台，竟然 lóng 報導差不多仝款 ê 新聞內容，che 有影是不可思議 ê 現象。 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad.]
  无仝 ê新闻台，竟然 lóng 报导差不多仝款 ê 新闻内容，che 有影是不可思议 ê 现象。 [Taiwanese Hokkien, simp.]
  From: 2005, anon., M̄-nā 無路用, 更加是阻礙!! (blog rant about poor news coverage: Not only is it not useful, it is a hindrance!)
  bô-kâng ê sin-bûn-tâi, kéng-jiân lóng pò-tō chha-put-to kâng-khóan ê sin-bûn lāi-iông, che ū-iáⁿ sī put-khó-su-gī ê hiān-siōng. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]
  Even different news stations all still report almost the same news content. This really is an incomprehensible phenomenon.
- 差不多先生差不多要死的時候 [MSC, trad.]
  差不多先生差不多要死的时候 [MSC, simp.]
  From: 1924, Hu Shih, 差不多先生傳
  chābùduō xiānshēng chàbuduō yào sǐ de shíhòu [Pinyin]
  When Mr. Chàbuduō is close to his death

Synonyms

幾乎／几乎 (jīhū)

Interjection

差不多

(colloquial) sort of; kinda

Derived terms

差不多得了 (chàbuduō déle)

差不多

Chinese

Pronunciation

Adjective

Synonyms

Adverb

Synonyms

Interjection

Derived terms

See also

Further reading