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 ˙ㄅㄨ ㄉㄨㄛ

• 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
• Xiang (Changsha, Wiktionary): ca¹ bu do¹

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: chàbuduō
    • Zhuyin: ㄔㄚˋ ˙ㄅㄨ ㄉㄨㄛ
    • 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/
• Xiang
  • (Changsha)
    • Wiktionary: ca¹ bu do¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰa̠³³ pu³ to³³/

Adjective

差不多

1. 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?

2. not bad
3. (Zhangzhou Hokkien) good (of one's behavior)

Synonyms

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

Adverb

差不多

1. 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

1. (colloquial) sort of; kinda

Derived terms

• 差不多得了 (chàbuduō déle)

 

See also

• (Cantonese) 差唔多 (caa1 m4 do1)
• (Wu) 差勿多

Further reading

• “Entry #5923”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2024.