al·most

adverb

OPAL S

/ˈɔːlməʊst/

not quite几乎；差不多 synonym nearly
- I like almost all of them.我差不多所有的都喜欢。
- They'll eat almost anything.他们几乎什么都吃。
- Almost no one (= hardly anyone) believed him.几乎没人相信他的话。
- The castle is almost entirely surrounded by water.城堡几乎四面环水。
- It's a mistake they almost always make.这是他们几乎总要犯的错误。
- The painting is almost certainly a forgery.这幅画几乎可以肯定是赝品。
- Her handwriting is almost impossible to read.她的笔迹几乎无法辨识。
- The team faces almost certain defeat in today's match.这个队在今天的比赛中几乎必败无疑。
- The workforce has almost doubled in the past ten years.劳动力在过去十年里差不多翻了一番。
- I almost forgot your birthday.我差点忘了你的生日。
- Housing has become almost as big a problem as education.住房几乎成为和教育一样重大的问题。
- The story seems almost too strange to be true.这个故事太过离奇，几乎不可能是真的。
Which Word? almost / nearly / practically
almost / nearly / practicallyThese three words have similar meanings and are used frequently with the following words:
almost ~ nearly ~ practically ~
certainly (numbers) all
all all every
every always no
entirely every nothing
impossible finished impossible
empty died anything
- They are used in positive sentences:
  She almost/nearly/practically missed her train.她几乎/几乎/几乎错过了火车。
  They can be used before words like all, every and everybody:
  Nearly all the students have bikes.几乎所有的学生都有自行车。
  I’ve got practically every CD they’ve made.他们制作的几乎所有 CD 我都有。
  Practically is used more in spoken than in written English. Nearly is the most common with numbers:
  There were nearly 200 people at the meeting.与会者有近 200 人。
  They can also be used in negative sentences but it is more common to make a positive sentence with only just:
  We only just got there in time.我们只是及时赶到了那里。
  (or:
  We almost/nearly didn’t get there in time.我们几乎/几乎没有及时到达那里。
  )
- Almost and practically can be used before words like any, anybody, anything, etc:
  I’ll eat almost anything.我几乎什么都吃。
  You can also use them before no, nobody, never, etc. but it is much more common to use hardly or scarcely with any, anybody, ever, etc:
  She’s hardly ever in她几乎从不参加
  (or:
  She’s almost never in她几乎从不参加
  ).
- Almost can be used when you are saying that one thing is similar to another:
  The boat looked almost like a toy.这艘船看起来几乎就像一个玩具。
- In British English you can use very and so before nearly:
  He was very nearly caught.他差一点就被抓住了。
note at hardly
Extra Examples
- The story is almost certainly false.这个故事几乎肯定是假的。
- Dinner's almost ready.晚饭快准备好了。
- Their house is almost opposite ours.他们的房子几乎就在我们的对面。
- His voice was almost inaudible.几乎听不见他的声音。
- The two brothers are almost inseparable.这哥俩几乎形影不离。
- He slipped and almost fell.他脚下一滑，差点摔倒。
- It's almost time to go.差不多该走了。
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
Almost is used with these adjectives:
absent
accidental
afraid
…
Word OriginOld English æl mǣst ‘for the most part’, a composite of all and most.