We often get confused about the use of “almost” and “nearly” in sentences because the meaning of these two words is just about the same, which is not complete.
In most cases, it won’t be incorrect if you use almost instead of nearly, or vice-versa. It is because both of them are synonyms. Therefore, you can pretty much use one instead of the other. It won’t make that big of a difference in the meaning of the sentence. So, let’s look at the meaning of both the words.
How and When to Use Almost in Sentence
“Almost” means not precisely, not quite, not wholly. It is defined as there is only a little way to go to reach a certain point.
Some examples of sentences using “almost”:
- Manish attended almost every day at the school.
- I feel almost ashamed that I have been so lucky.
- I had almost forgotten her until I saw her face.
- He was almost asleep by the time the movie was over.
- Almost everyone else had already left, so Kartik and Ankush volunteered to help.
- She was almost finished packing when the doorbell rang.
How and When to Use Nearly in Sentence
“Nearly” means something that is slightly short of or not quite accomplished. It also refers to something a little less than you want or need.
Some examples of sentences using “nearly”:
- He had nearly married a woman just like his mother.
- When he finally nodded off, nearly an hour had passed.
- He was not sleepy, and it was still not nearly morning.
- She was nearly frozen to death in the snow.
- It was nearly midnight by the time they left.
- The child was nearly run over by a car.
Let’s look at a sentence using both “almost” and “nearly” together.
Example: It almost started to rain when before I nearly reached my house.
Keep exploring EnglishBix to learn more about the correct usage of commonly confused words.