区别辨析almost、nearly、about、approximately、around与roughly

almost、nearly、about、approximately、around与roughly这些副词均有“大约、差不多”之意。

almost :指在程度上相差很小,差不多。

  • The story is almost certainly false.
    这个故事几乎肯定是虚构的。

nearly与almost含义基本相同,侧重指数量、时间或空间上的接近。

  • The bottle's nearly empty.
    这瓶子差不多空了。
  • I've worked here for nearly two years.
    我已经在这里工作了将近两年。

about :常可分almost和nearly换用,但about用于表示时间、数量的“大约”时,实际数量可能多也可能少。

  • It costs about $10.
    这大约要花10元钱。
  • They waited (for) about an hour.
    他们等了一小时左右。
  • He arrived (at) about ten.
    他是十点钟左右到的。

approximately :多用于书面语,指精确度接近某个标准以致误差可忽略不计。

  • The journey took approximately seven hours.
    旅程大约花了七个小时。

around :多用于非正式场合,常见于美国英语。

  • He arrived around five o'clock.
    他大约是五点钟到的。

roughly :指按精略估计,常代替about。

  • Sales are up by roughly 10%.
    销售额上升了大约10%。