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%。