1. 几乎，差不多　 nearly; not quite
2. 实际〔质〕上；简直　 virtually; practically

　～ all　几乎所有
　～ every　几乎每一个
　～ perfect　接近于完美
　～ unrecognizable　几乎认不出
　～ over　快结束了
　～ always　几乎总是

　In his blind haste he almost ran into the river.　他匆匆忙忙地几乎跑到河里去了。
　I almost dropped the bulb.　我差点儿失手把灯泡打了。
　The dry undergrowth was almost set alight by the hot sun.　干燥的林下植物几乎要被炎热的太阳点燃了。
　I almost thought you meant it.　我几乎认为你是当真的。
　I almost thought that you were wrong.　我几乎以为你错了。
　He almost drowned.　他差一点就淹死了。
　We were late, and almost missed the train.　我们迟到了，差点误了那趟火车。
　She has a bad cold, she's almost lost her voice.　她患了重感冒，嗓子都快哑了。
　She almost fell off her horse.　她差点从马上跌下来。
　She almost burst into tears every time she saw a sad film.　每次看伤心的电影，她几乎都要哭出来。
　I almost had an accident yesterday.　我昨天差点出事故。
　Fire almost destroyed the whole town.　几乎整个城镇都被烧毁了。
　So extreme was the tension, she had almost forgotten to breathe.　她紧张极了，差点忘了呼吸。
　My high school English teacher was close to me. She was almost my best friend.　我中学的英文教师与我关系很密切，她几乎是我最好的朋友。
　They were almost all shock workers.　他们几乎全是突击手。
　In the hall it was almost dark.　大厅里几乎漆黑一片。
　The little room was almost bare of furniture.　这间小屋子几乎没有什么家具。
　He was almost dead.　他几乎死了。
　She is almost well.　她身体几乎好了。
　The bottle is almost empty.　瓶子几乎空了。
　At this time of morning, the street was almost empty.　在这么早的时候，街道上几乎空荡无人。
　He has played all the way in the football game and it's almost over.　他自始至终参加这场足球比赛，现在比赛快结束了。
　He was very short-sighted, almost helpless without his glasses.　他的眼睛近视得很厉害，不戴眼镜几乎什么也看不见。
　Nowadays the belief in magic is almost extinct.　今天几乎无人相信巫术。
　Our work is almost completed.　我们的工作差不多完成了。
　The pain is almost more than she can bear.　她几乎不能忍受这种疼痛。
　The place changed a great deal and was almost unrecognizable.　这个地方变化很大，几乎认不出来了。
　It's almost certain to succeed.　这几乎肯定会成功的。
　Chemically, it is almost identical to limestone.　在化学成分上，这东西与石灰岩几乎完全一样。
　My studies were devoted almost entirely to contemporary literature.　我的研究几乎全部集中在当代文学上了。
　A baby is almost completely helpless.　婴儿几乎完全依赖大人照料。
　The seeds that had been sown were almost completely washed away by a sudden downpour.　已经播下的种子几乎被一场突如其来的暴雨全冲走了。
　It's a mistake they almost always make.　这是他们几乎总要犯的错误。
　He is almost always busy.　他几乎总是很忙。
　It almost always rains a great deal in June. 　6月间几乎总是下很多雨。
　When death has once entered a house, it almost always returns there directly, as if it knew the door.　死神光临一次后，几乎总是不久再来，好像认识了门似的。
　There is very little humour in his make-up, a trait that comes through in his almost always serious speeches.　他的性格缺乏幽默感，这一点从他几乎都是一本正经的讲话中看得出来。
　It's almost time to go.　差不多是该走的时候了。
　Hurry up, it's almost time for the train to leave.　快点，火车差不多要开了。
　Almost everybody spoke.　几乎每个人都发了言。
　That book is in print, you can get a copy at almost any bookstore.　那书已出版，你可在任何书店买到。
　The band has been on the road for almost a month.　这个乐队旅行演出几乎一个月了。
　When the meeting finished at 3:00, we had still almost an hour at hand before our train left.　会议在3点结束时，我们还有几乎一小时火车才开。
　She is almost seven feet tall.　她差不多有七英尺高。
　It's almost ten miles from here to the civic center.　从这儿到市中心差不多有十英里。
　The sea covers almost three-fourths of the earth's surface.　海洋几乎占地球表面的四分之三。
　It is almost six o'clock.　现在差不多6点了。
　He spent almost one thousand dollars a month.　他一个月差不多花了1000美元。
　A few years ago this city had almost no chemical industry.　几年前，这个城市几乎没有化学工业。
　There was almost no snow that winter.　那年冬天几乎没有下雪。
　We got almost no help from him.　我们几乎没有得到他的帮助。
　Mary has made almost no mistakes.　玛丽几乎没有出什么错。
　There is almost no getting on with my work.　我的工作几乎停下来了。
　Almost nobody was present.　几乎没有人出席。
　Almost no one believed him.　几乎没有一个人相信他。
　Almost no one took any rest.　几乎没有一个人休息。
　She said almost nothing.　她几乎没有说话。
　The company paid almost nothing for her loss.　公司对她的损失几乎没有赔偿多少钱。
　There was almost nothing to eat.　几乎没有什么东西可吃。
　He heard almost nothing about it.　他几乎一点也没听说过那件事。
　There is almost nothing worth reading except Lu Hsun's works.　除了鲁迅的著作之外，几乎无书可读。
　The speaker said almost nothing worth listening to.　那个讲演者说的话几乎没有一句值得听。
　We have almost nothing to do now.　现在我们差不多无事可干了。
　They had almost nowhere to go.　他们几乎没有地方可去。
　It's almost impossible to climb up the cliff.　要爬上这个峭壁几乎是不可能的。
　The suitcase was almost too heavy to lift.　手提箱重得几乎提不起来了。
　The scratch was almost too minute to see.　抓痕细得几乎看不见。
　I almost didn't go.　我几乎没去。
　This is almost, but not quite, correct.　这差不多对了，但还不完全对。
　The electronic keyboard sounds almost like a piano.　这台电子琴的声音太像钢琴了。
　"Have you finished?""Almost."　“你做完了没有?”“差不多了。”
　He is almost as tall as I am.　他差不多跟我一样高。
　The old man stood on a pile of bricks almost as high as a house.　那老人站在一堆跟房子差不多高的砖上。
　They are of different nationalities, with almost as many languages as there are students.　这些学生来自不同民族，几乎有多少人就有多少种语言。

 ♣ almost, nearly
　这两个词的共同意思是“几乎，差不多”。下列情况下常可互换：
1. 在一般肯定结构中。例如：
　There are almost〔nearly〕 enough people here to do the job.　做这项工作，这些人手差不多够了。
2. 在表达时间时。例如：
　Well, it happened almost〔nearly〕 ten years ago.　这差不多是十年以前的事了。
3. 在all, always, every等词前。例如：
　Almost〔nearly〕 every student spoke.　几乎每个学生都发了言。
　He almost〔nearly〕 arrived late.　他几乎总是迟到。
　其区别是：
1. 从含义上说， almost强调“十分接近”，而nearly强调“尚有不足”，所以在表示“想要做而没做成”“很可能发生但还未发生”时，要用nearly；而表示“简直”“像”等意思时，要用almost. 例如：
　I nearly committed a great error.　我几乎犯了大错。
　Please wait a minute. I'm almost out of breath.　请等一下，我简直喘不过气来了。
　It was almost like a dream.　这简直就像一场梦。
　试比较以下两句：

　另外，修饰表示思想感情的动词时，只能用almost. 例如：
　He almost dreaded a visit to the doctor.　他几乎害怕去看病。
　She almost wanted to leave here.　她几乎想离开这里。
2. 从程度上说， almost比nearly更接近。例如：



3. 从使用场合上说，在有趋势向某个目标发展的情况下，两者可互换。而在没有这种趋势或根本不可能达到的场合下，则只能用nearly而不能用almost. 例如：


4. 从语气上说， almost只是一般陈述；而nearly则具有较明显的惊讶、抱怨等感情色彩。试比较以下两个句子：


5. 与no, none, nothing等连用，只能用almost而不能用nearly；反之，与not, never连用，只能用nearly而不能用almost（但美式英语可说almost never)。例如：
　There are not nearly enough people here to do the job.　干这活儿，这些人手还远不够。
　We almost never traverse tortuous paths.(AmE)　我们难得走弯路。
6. 在more than, too前用almost，不用nearly. 例如：
　That's almost too much!　那简直太过分了！
　This is almost more than we feared.　这简直远远超过我们所害怕的情况。
7. nearly可加very, pretty等修饰，而almost不可。

1. almost位置不同，可能引起意义的改变。试比较以下两句：

2. almost偶尔也可用作形容词，意为“几乎可算是…的”，在句中用作定语。例如：
　Cage is my almost sister.　凯奇与我情同手足。
　Her almost smile disappeared.　她脸上那一丝勉强的微笑消失了。
3. 注意almost的翻译：如果英语动词（肯定式）所表达的内容是不希望发生的事，译为汉语时用肯定式和否定式均可，意思相同。例如He was almost drowned.可译为“他差一点没淹死。”也可译为“他差一点就淹死了。”但如果英语动词所表达的内容是希望发生的事，则英语用肯定式，汉语也译为肯定式，但事实却是否定的；反之英语用否定式，汉语也译为否定式，但事实却是肯定的。例如：

4. 一般说almost不和not连用，指的是不可说not almost，但almost not还是可以出现在否定句中的，如 3.中的例句。

　［同义词］ about, nearing, nearly, towards