Almost and nearly both mean “not quite”, and in most phrases you can use either: almost finished, nearly finished. Before never, nothing, nobody and no, people usually choose almost. Not nearly means “far from”: not nearly enough means “much less than you need”.
almost or nearly — can you pick the right one?
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almost/nearly + finished/all/every/number/time; almost + never/nothing/nobody/no; not nearly + enough/as … as; very nearly + past verb
- I've almost finished the report, so I'll send it to you in an hour.
- It's nearly midnight, and the neighbours are still playing loud music.
- There was almost nobody at the gym on New Year's morning.
What changed
First versionI nearly never eat breakfast before work.
RevisionI almost never eat breakfast before work.
Since the two words usually mean the same, nearly seems a safe choice anywhere. But next to never, nothing, nobody and nowhere, native speakers choose almost: almost never, almost nothing. Nearly never would be understood, but people don't usually say it.
Nearly can be made stronger with very: I very nearly missed my flight, meaning I came extremely close to missing it. You can't do this with almost. In an ordinary sentence about something that almost happened, both work: I almost fell off my bike, I nearly fell off my bike.
Your turn
We sold only thirty tickets, which is not ___ enough to pay for the hall.
Show the answer
nearly — You need the phrase not nearly enough, “far from enough”: only thirty tickets sold is clearly too few to pay for the hall. Not almost enough isn't used in English.
Describe your weekend habits. Use almost with never, nothing or nobody, and nearly with a number or a time.
On Saturdays I almost never set an alarm, so I often sleep until nearly ten.
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