可能比較深?yuàn)W,你理解前面的一些就可以了
1. 兩者都可用來修飾不定代詞、形容詞、副詞、動(dòng)詞、介詞短語等,此時(shí)兩者?？蓳Q用.如：
It’s almost [nearly] impossible. 那幾乎是不可能的.
He is almost [nearly] as tall as her. 他差不多與她一樣高.
He almost [nearly] always arrives late. 他差不多總是遲到.
He fell and almost [nearly] broke his leg. 他跌了一跤,險(xiǎn)些跌斷了腿.Almost [Nearly] all the students passed the exam. 差不多所有的學(xué)生都通過了考試.
修飾動(dòng)詞時(shí),通常應(yīng)放在行為動(dòng)詞之前,特殊動(dòng)詞之后(見上例)；修飾形容詞、副詞、名詞等時(shí),通常應(yīng)將其放在被修飾詞語之前,否則會(huì)造成錯(cuò)誤.如：；修飾形容詞、副詞、名詞等時(shí),通常應(yīng)將其放在被修飾詞語之前,否則會(huì)造成錯(cuò)誤.
他幾乎工作了一整天.
正：He worked almost all day.
誤：He almost worked all day.
我們當(dāng)中幾乎每一個(gè)人都讀過這本書.
正：Almost every one of us read the book.
誤：Every one of us almost read the book.
2. almost 可用于 any 以及 no, none, nobody, nothing, never 等否定詞之前,但 nearly 一般不這樣用.如：
Almost any man can do it. 幾乎任何人都會(huì)做.
Almost no one came to the party. 幾乎沒有人來參加晚會(huì).
I almost never see her. 我?guī)缀鯊奈匆娺^她.
但是,兩者都可用在否定動(dòng)詞之前.如：
He almost [nearly] didn’t catch the bus. 他差點(diǎn)沒趕上公共汽車.
3. nearly 前可用 very, pretty, not 等詞修飾,但 almost 之前不能用這些詞.如：
It’s not nearly so difficult as you think.這遠(yuǎn)不像你想`象的那么難.The car is pretty nearly new. 這汽車幾乎是全新的.The car is pretty nearly new.
注：not nearly 意為“遠(yuǎn)非”, very [pretty] nearly 意為“幾乎”,都是習(xí)語.
4. 有時(shí) almost 可表示十分相似(但又不完全相同),此時(shí)不用 nearly.如：
I almost wish I’d stayed at home. 我真有點(diǎn)后悔沒在家里呆著.
Our cat understand everything — he’s almost human. 我們這只貓什么都懂,快通人性了.
六、almost和nearly的用法比較
almost和nearly都是英語口語和書面語最常用的詞.在學(xué)習(xí)過程中,許多學(xué)生對(duì)這兩個(gè)詞的用法并不十分清楚.他們常常把兩個(gè)詞當(dāng)作絕對(duì)的同義詞來使用,寫出了“Nearly no one came to the party．”這樣的錯(cuò)誤句子.下面將從句法、語義和語用等方面介紹這兩個(gè)詞在用法上的異同.
一、almost和nearly在句法和語義上的相同點(diǎn)：
1．a(chǎn)lmost和nearly都可用于表示度量、計(jì)數(shù)和時(shí)間的名詞詞組前面.eg：
It is almost／nearly ten o'clock．
There were almost／nearly a thousand people there．
注意：almost和nearly與表示時(shí)間的名詞短語使用時(shí)只用在系動(dòng)詞BE的后面.eg我們不能說：They arrived at almost／nearly five o'clock．而應(yīng)說：It was almost／nearly five o'clock when they arrived．
2．a(chǎn)lmost和nearly修飾動(dòng)詞時(shí)往往表示進(jìn)度、進(jìn)程或結(jié)果等意義.eg：
I've almost／nearly finished．I almost／nearly smashed the phone in fury．
注意：1)almost和nearly修飾動(dòng)詞時(shí)一般置于動(dòng)詞之前.如果句中只有一個(gè)助動(dòng)詞,兩詞都應(yīng)置于助動(dòng)詞之后；如果有一個(gè)以上的助動(dòng)詞,則兩詞都應(yīng)置于第一個(gè)助動(dòng)詞之后.eg：
Fanny almost／nearly fainted．He has almost／nearly forgotten the time．
I've almost／nearly been drowned in it three times．
2)almost和nearly都可以用在否定動(dòng)詞的前面.eg：
I almost／nearly didn't get up in time．
3．a(chǎn)lmost和nearly都可以修飾表示絕對(duì)意義的形容詞.eg:
我們可以說“almost,／nearly perfect／frozen／dead／impossible",但一般不與表示非絕對(duì)意義的形容詞連用.eg;
我們不說：①The schools are almost／nearly good there．
②The coast was almost／nearly rocky．
以上兩例應(yīng)改為：①The schools are extremely good there．②The coast was very rocky．
4．a(chǎn)lmost和nearly都可以用在某些時(shí)間狀語和地點(diǎn)狀語的前面.eg：
I used to ride almost／nearly every day／evening．We are almost／nearly there／home．
5．a(chǎn)lmost和nearly都可以用在限定詞“all,every,everybody”等之前.eg：
Almost／nearly al1(of) my friends came to the party．
二、almost和nearly的差異
1．句法上的差異
(1)almost可以用在any及否定詞“no, no one, nobody, never, nothing, none, nowhere 等的前面,而nearly則不可以.eg：
There is almost no leadership at all．(不可用nearly)
但是,nearly可以用在否定詞not之后,起加強(qiáng)否定陳述的作用,而almost則不可以.eg：
It's not nearly so nice． We don't do nearly enough to help．
(2)almost可以用在以—ly結(jié)尾的副詞的前面,而nearly則不可以.eg：
She said it almost crossly． Your boss is almost certainly there．
(3)almost可以用在like之前,表示“相似,但不完全相同”或避免說得過于肯定；nearly則不可以.eg：
It made me feel almost like a hostess．
(4)very,so,pretty可以用在nearly前面,卻不可用在almost前面.eg：
We were very nearly at the end Of our journey．
...the American who so nearly won the Open Championship in 1970．
I've pretty nearly finished．
2．語義上的細(xì)微差異
一般情況下,“It's almost five o'clock．”和“It's nearly five o'clock．”意思大致相同；但有時(shí)almost所表示的意思比nearly更接近一些.試比較：
It's nearly ten o'clock．(=perhaps 9．45) .It's almost ten o'clock．(=perhaps 9．57)
3．語用上的差異
almost是一個(gè)“純”程度副詞,而nearly則不然,它同時(shí)還傳達(dá)說話人的某種思想情緒和心理狀態(tài).eg：
It's nearly eight kilometers to the ZOO．
到動(dòng)物園還有將近八公里呢.(比設(shè)想的要遠(yuǎn)些)
It cost me nearly twenty pounds．
它花了我將近20英鎊呢.(比估計(jì)的價(jià)格高,嫌貴了一些)
4．國別差異
almost多用在美國英語中,而nearly在英國英語中則更為常見.
總之,almost和nearly兩詞的用法比較復(fù)雜,尤其是它們?cè)谡Z義和語用上的細(xì)微差異,更須在上下文或語境中細(xì)心揣摩才能體會(huì)到.