We use ‘nearly’ to say that something almost happens but does not completely happen. It shows that something is very close to happening or being true.
I nearly fell down the stairs.
She nearly won the race today.
‘Nearly’ can mean ‘about’ or ‘close to’ when we talk about numbers or amounts. We use it to say the number is not exact but very close.
There were nearly fifty people here.
He earns nearly one hundred dollars.
We use ‘nearly’ to say that a period of time is almost finished. It shows something will happen very soon or just before the end.
The movie is nearly over now.
It is nearly time to go home.
‘Nearly’ before negative words means something almost did not happen or almost failed. It shows things were very close to not happening.
He nearly didn’t come to the party.
She nearly failed the test yesterday.
When we say ‘nearly’ with actions, it shows that an event almost happened but did not. It is used to talk about close results or narrow outcomes.
I nearly missed the bus this morning.
We nearly won the game last night.
In some informal British English, especially in spoken form, ‘nearly’ is sometimes used instead of ‘near’ to mean close to a place or thing. This is less common and can sound informal.
There is a shop nearly here.
We live nearly the school.
