hầu như gần như 
almost 
It was done almost immediately. ☊ 
Nó đã được làm gần như ngay lập tức. ☊ Passive like: gần như → →
Sie hätten einander fast nicht mehr wiedererkannt. ☊ Họ gần như không nhận ra nhau. ☊ (Lektion 73, Nr. 1047) The story is almost certainly false. ☊ almost ☊
Dinner's almost ready. ☊ almost ☊
He slipped and almost fell. ☊ almost ☊
Their house is almost opposite ours. ☊ almost ☊
ashamed that...: I feel almost ashamed that I've been so lucky. ☊ ashamed ☊
Robins build nests almost anywhere. ☊ build ☊
Our team came a close second (= nearly won). ☊ close ☊
I've had some difficulties, but they were nothing compared to yours (= they were not nearly as bad as yours). ☊ compare ☊
He has lived and worked in France almost continuously since 1990. ☊ continuously ☊
cost sb sth: That one mistake almost cost him his life. ☊ cost ☊
I nearly died when I saw him there (= it was very embarrassing). ☊ die ☊
Red blood cells are roughly the shape of a disk. ☊ disk ☊
Membership almost doubled in two years. ☊ double ☊
The audience was almost entirely female. ☊ entirely ☊
It happened almost exactly a year ago. ☊ exactly ☊
follow sth: The plot is almost impossible to follow. ☊ follow ☊
By a stroke of fortune he found work almost immediately. ☊ fortune ☊
Hardly a day goes by without my thinking of her (= I think of her almost every day). ☊ hardly ☊
I can hardly keep my eyes open (= I'm almost falling asleep). ☊ hardly ☊
a heavily pregnant woman (= one whose baby is nearly ready to be born) ☊ heavily ☊
She answered almost immediately. ☊ immediately ☊
Keep going, Sarah, you're nearly there. ☊ keep going ☊
I nearly killed myself carrying that suitcase all the way here. ☊ kill ☊
The population almost doubles in summer, mainly because of the jazz festival. ☊ mainly ☊
We arrived not a moment too soon (= almost too late). ☊ moment ☊
I won, but there wasn't much in it (= our scores were nearly the same). ☊ not much in it ☊
She was near to tears (= almost crying). ☊ near ☊
It's not nearly as hot as last year. ☊ not nearly ☊
The woman spoke almost without pausing for breath (= very quickly). ☊ pause ☊
a heavily pregnant woman (= one whose baby is nearly ready to be born) ☊ pregnant ☊
The theatre was not quite (= was almost) full. ☊ quite ☊
'I almost think she prefers animals to people.' 'Quite right too,' said Bill. ☊ quite ☊
Are you nearly ready? ☊ ready ☊
Resistance to change has nearly destroyed the industry. ☊ resistance ☊
One of the smaller parties came a close second (= nearly won). ☊ second ☊
His talk nearly sent me to sleep (= it was boring). ☊ sleep ☊
Such advice as he was given (= it was not very much) has proved almost worthless. ☊ such ☊
Supplies of food are almost exhausted. ☊ supply ☊
The storm nearly tore the roof off. ☊ tear ☊
We're almost there (= we have almost arrived). ☊ there ☊
The bus stopped abruptly, nearly tipping me out of my seat. ☊ tip ☊
The author is virtually unknown outside Poland. ☊ unknown ☊
The cliff was almost vertical. ☊ vertical ☊
The red squirrel has become virtually extinct in most of the country. ☊ virtually ☊
The horse was almost pure white in colour. ☊ white ☊