几乎 (jīhū) and 差不多 (chàbuduō) have similar meanings and are sometimes used in similar ways. Therefore, it’s common for students to struggle to tell them apart.

Let’s start by analyzing their similarities. 几乎 (jīhū) is an adverb that means “almost,” “nearly” or “practically.” Likewise, 差不多 (chàbuduō) can also be used as an adverb that means “almost” or “nearly.” When both function as adverbs, these two words can sometimes be interchangeable.

For example:

In the sentences above, 差不多 (chàbuduō) and 几乎 (jīhū) are interchangeable. They are both acting as adverbs meaning “almost.” Note that the meaning of the sentence stays the same no matter which is used.

It isn’t always possible to use these two words in the same way, though. For example, it’s OK to add a single syllable adjective directly after 差不多 (chàbùduō), but it’s not OK to do so directly after 几乎 (jīhū). If you want to use 几乎 (jīhū) followed by a single adjective, you must say 几乎一样 (jīhū yīyàng) instead of just 几乎 (jīhū).

For example:

Note that in the second of the two sentences above, 几乎 (jīhū) cannot stand alone. It must be paired with 一样 (yīyàng). Writing the sentence without 一样 (yīyàng) is incorrect. 差不多(chàbuduō), on the other hand, can stand alone here.

Another difference between these two words is that, unlike 几乎 (jīhū), 差不多 (chàbuduō) is also often used before words that express numbers or time. In this case, it also means “almost” or “nearly.”

For example:

There are several other situations where 差不多 (chàbuduō) and 几乎 (jīhū) differ. For instance, while 差不多 (chàbuduō) is commonly used as an adjective in everyday speech, 几乎 (jīhū) can only function as an adverb.

When used as an adjective, 差不多 (chàbuduō) most commonly means “about the same” or “similar.”

For example:

Another difference is that 几乎 (jīhū) can be used to mean that something unwelcome or undesirable almost occured, but then didn’t in the end. 差不多 (chàbùduō) is not used in this way.

Let’s look at some examples to understand this special usage of 几乎 (jīhū):

In this example, the speaker is using 几乎 (jīhū) to highlight how he almost yelled, but didn’t actually yell in the end. Yelling is somewhat undesirable, since it is impolite, so the use of 几乎 indicates that the speaker didn’t want to yell, was so annoyed that he almost did, but stopped himself from doing so in the end.

Let’s look at another example:

In the sentence above, the undesirable action that almost happened, but then didn’t, is tripping. The use of 几乎 (jīhū) indicates that “he” was about to trip, but was able to catch himself in time.

When all’s said and done, it’s also worth noting that 差不多 (chàbuduō) is the more commonly used than 几乎 (jīhū). This isn’t surprising considering that 差不多 (chàbuduō) can function as both an adverb and an adjective, while 几乎 (jīhū) can only be used as an adverb.

从来 (cónglái) is a useful Chinese adverb that by itself means “always.” It is also frequently used as part of a negative sentence with 不 (bù) or 没有 (méiyǒu). When used in this way, its meaning flips, becoming the opposite of always: never.

Let’s start with the positive meaning. If you want to use 从来 (cónglái) to mean “always,” use the following structure:

Subject + 从来 (cónglái) + 都 (dōu) + Predicate

Note the addition of the word 都 (dōu; all) which helps emphasize that the situation being described has been the case all along.

For example:

In this sentence, 从来 (cónglái) is used in a straightforward way to indicate that the worker has always been a diligent worker.

Sometimes, you will hear people add 是 (shì) to this structure for emphasis, like so:

Subject + 从来 (cónglái) + 都是 (dōu shì) + Predicate

For example:

从来 (cónglái) is also frequently used in its negative form to mean “never” in the context of talking about things you never do or have never done. When used in this way, it’s necessary to add 不 (bù) or 没有 (méiyǒu) after 从来 (cónglái). This negative use of 从来 (cónglái) is perhaps even more common than the positive use.

Note that the meaning of 从来 (cónglái) changes slightly depending on whether it’s used with 不 (bù) or 没有 (méiyǒu). We use 从来不 (cóngláibù) to say that, as a rule, you currently never do something. To say that you have never done something in the past, on the other hand, we use the phrase 从来没有...过 (cónglái méiyǒu...guò).

Let’s first look at how to say that you never do something as a rule. When using 从来 (cónglái) in this way, employ the following structure:

Subject + 从来 (cónglái) + 不 (bù) + Verb

For example:

Note that this sentence is referring to something that the speaker never does in the present. In other words, this sentence indicates that the speaker is not currently in the habit of watching TV.

If instead you want to say that you have never done something before or that you have never had the experience of doing something before, you should pair 从来 (cónglái) with 没有...过 (méiyǒu...guò) instead of 不 (bù).

In this case, use the following structure:

Subject + 从来 (cónglái) + 没有 (méiyǒu) + Verb + 过 (guò)

For example:

In the sentence above, the speaker is using the phrase 从来没有...过 (cónglái méiyǒu...guò) when discussing the fact that he has never had the experience of hearing a certain Chinese word in the past.

出来 (chūlái) is a Chinese grammatical construction that is most commonly used in a literal sense to mean that something physically comes out of something else.

If you have achieved an HSK 4 level of Chinese, you’ve probably been using the literal form of 出来 (chūlái) for quite some time in sentences like 我从包里面拿出来了一把钥匙 (Wǒ cóng bāo lǐmian ná chūláile yī bǎ yàoshi; I took a bunch of keys out of the bag).

Instead of focusing on this more literal sense, however, this grammar point explores how to use 出来 (chūlái) in a metaphorical sense. When used this way, 出来 (chūlái) functions as a result complement. Like the more common result complements 到 (dào), 见 (jiàn) and 完 (wán), 出来 (chūlái) appears directly after the verb to describe its result.

Luckily, the more figurative meanings of 出来 (chūlái) are clearly related to its literal meaning of something physically coming out of something else. Instead of talking about two physical things, though, it’s used to refer to something less tangible, like a smell, taste, feeling, or answer that comes out of an action like smelling, touching, thinking or guessing.

出来 (chūlái) can be used to talk about actions succeeding or reaching completion. It can also be used to talk about getting information from an action or recognizing or guessing something.

In English, this figurative sense of 出来 (chūlái) is often translated as to tell/distinguish or to come up with/figure out/guess. It is often used with verbs like 猜 (cāi), 听 (tīng), 想 (xiǎng) and 闻 (wén).

For example:

In this sentence, 出来 (chūlái) functions as a result complement in the common phrase 猜出来 (cāi chūlái; to guess successfully). In this case, 出来 (chūlái) is modifying the verb 猜 (cāi; to guess).

Guessing is the action, and 出来 (chūlái) is being used in the figurative sense to talk about something (in this case, an answer) coming out of the action (guessing).

Let’s look at another example:

In this case, the result complement 出来 (chūlái) is paired with the verb 叫 (jiào; to yell). The action being discussed is the act of yelling, while the thing that (almost) resulted from or “came out” of this action is the sound of the yell.