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Level Upper-Intermediate Chinese · HSK 4

Actually, Almost, After All, To My Surprise: 并, 差点儿, 几乎, 毕竟, 竟然

A short adverb before the verb can change how a sentence feels: it can contradict what someone assumed, say that something nearly happened, or express surprise. These adverbs all go after the subject and before the verb (or before 不 / 没).

并不 / 并没有: actually not

并 (bìng) before 不 or 没 strengthens a negative and contradicts an assumption: 'not at all, actually not (whatever you might think)'. 这个问题并不难 (this problem isn't actually hard). Use it when someone expected the opposite; it's not just a stronger 不.

  • 他看起来很严肃，其实并不难相处。

    Tā kàn qilai hěn yánsù, qíshí bìng bù nán xiāngchǔ.

    He looks stern, but he's actually not hard to get along with.

  • 我并没有说过这句话。

    Wǒ bìng méiyǒu shuōguo zhè jù huà.

    I never said that.

差点儿 and 几乎

差点儿 (chàdiǎnr) means 'nearly (but didn't)'. With something unwanted, 差点儿 and 差点儿没 mean the same: 我差点儿摔倒 = 我差点儿没摔倒 (I nearly fell over). With something wanted, 差点儿没 means it only just happened: 我差点儿没赶上 (I only just caught it).

几乎 (jīhū) means 'almost' for amounts and extent: 几乎所有人都 (almost everyone), 几乎每天都 (almost every day), 几乎没有 (hardly any). With 所有 and 每, keep 都 before the verb. 差点儿 is about an event that nearly happened; 几乎 can describe a near miss in writing (他几乎摔倒), but in speech use 差点儿 for near misses and 几乎 for amounts.

  • 我今天差点儿迟到。

    Wǒ jīntiān chàdiǎnr chídào.

    I was nearly late today.

  • 他几乎每天都加班。

    Tā jīhū měi tiān dōu jiā bān.

    He works overtime almost every day.

毕竟, 或许, 说不定, 的确

毕竟 (bìjìng) means 'after all': it reminds the listener of a basic fact that explains or excuses something. 别怪他，他毕竟还是个孩子 (don't blame him; he's still a child, after all).

或许 (huòxǔ) and 也许 (yěxǔ) mean 'perhaps'; 或许 is a little more written. 说不定 (shuōbudìng) is spoken 'maybe, you never know'. 的确 (díquè) means 'indeed, it's true that', confirming a point: 他的确很努力.

  • 他毕竟是新来的，很多事还不熟悉。

    Tā bìjìng shì xīn lái de, hěn duō shì hái bù shúxī.

    He's new, after all; he isn't familiar with a lot of things yet.

  • 说不定他已经到了。

    Shuōbudìng tā yǐjīng dào le.

    He might well be there already.

竟然 and 没想到: to my surprise

竟然 (jìngrán) is an adverb that signals the speaker's surprise: 他竟然忘了 (he actually forgot!). It goes after the subject. 没想到 (méi xiǎngdào, I didn't expect) can start the sentence and is more conversational: 没想到他会来.

English often shows surprise with intonation or 'actually'; Chinese prefers an explicit word.

  • 这么简单的题，他竟然做错了。

    Zhème jiǎndān de tí, tā jìngrán zuòcuò le.

    He actually got such an easy question wrong.

  • 没想到你中文说得这么好！

    Méi xiǎngdào nǐ Zhōngwén shuō de zhème hǎo!

    I had no idea your Chinese was so good!

Common mistakes

  • ✗这个问题并难。

    ✓这个问题并不难。

    Zhège wèntí bìng bù nán.

    并 in this sense only strengthens a negative: it must be followed by 不 or 没.

  • ✗竟然他忘了我的生日。

    ✓他竟然忘了我的生日。

    Tā jìngrán wàngle wǒ de shēngrì.

    竟然 is an adverb and normally follows the subject. 没想到 is the one that can open the sentence.

  • ✗几乎所有的朋友结婚了。

    ✓几乎所有的朋友都结婚了。

    Jīhū suǒyǒu de péngyou dōu jié hūn le.

    With 几乎所有 or 几乎每, 都 still has to come right before the verb. English 'almost all my friends are married' needs no extra word, so 都 is the word learners drop. 几乎 itself goes before 所有 / 每 or before the verb.

Questions learners ask

Is 差点儿 the same as 差不多?

No. 差不多 means 'about, roughly the same'. 差点儿 means something nearly happened.

Is 竟然 the same as 居然?

Almost. 居然 is a little more colloquial and is covered at C1 alongside 不料.

Practice this in lessons

The Upper-Intermediate Chinese lessons teach this step by step, with exercises and review built in.

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