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# nearly

«nearly» in Mova's school dictionary: **almost, but not completely** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adverb

### meaning for a pupil

1) Nearly means almost, but not completely. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nearly/#m1)

2) Nearly can mean that something almost happened but did not («I nearly fell»). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nearly/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In maths it is used with estimates and amounts close to a number («nearly 100» means a little less than 100). In everyday life and stories it tells about close calls and things that are almost finished or almost time («nearly ready», «nearly home», «nearly bedtime»). Phrases: «nearly always», «not nearly» (= not at all, far from).

### examples

- It is nearly time for lunch. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nearly/#x1)
- I nearly missed the bus this morning. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nearly/#x2)
- We have nearly finished the jigsaw. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nearly/#x3)
- There were nearly 30 children at the party. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nearly/#x4)
- She nearly fell off the wall, so be careful. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nearly/#x5)
- My little brother is nearly five. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nearly/#x6)
- That is not nearly enough paint for the whole fence. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nearly/#x7)
- We are nearly home; I can see our street. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nearly/#x8)
- The merchant himself nearly went mad. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nearly/#x9)

### note

Adverb: put it before the verb or before the number or word it changes. In maths «nearly 50» means a bit less than 50, never more (49 is nearly 50; 51 is not). «Not nearly» means «far from», a strong negative. Similar: «almost».

### In the corpora

- [Nearly 2000 years ago a volcano buried a Roman town and burned a library of scrolls to black lumps that nobody could open.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/ai/23-news-tricked-bots-discoveries/0/)
- [Minimalism is art that uses very little, like simple shapes; whether a nearly empty work is deep or a con is argued.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/18-modern-art-my-little-brother-could-do-that/16/)
- [Plants grow mainly at the tips of their shoots and roots, and some bamboos can grow nearly a metre in a day.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/56-how-plants-grow/14/)
- [No real animal breathes fire; the bombardier beetle sprays a nearly boiling chemical mix from a tough chamber at attackers.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/146-shrek-s-dragon-real-dragons-and-lizards/5/)
- [Dumbo octopuses have fins that look like elephant ears, and they live deeper than any other known octopus, at nearly seven kilometres.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/176-the-deep-dark-anglerfish-giant-squid-blobfish-and-whale-falls/8/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «nearly» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nearly/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.