"almost" in seven languages
Meaningalmost
Spanish
casi
/ˈkasi/
inherited
French
presque
/pʁɛsk/
other source · French près que 'near that' (Latin PRESSUM)
Italian
quasi
/ˈkwazi/
inherited
Portuguese
quase
/ˈkwazi/
inherited
Romanian
aproape
/aˈpro̯ape/
other source · Latin AD PROPE 'near to'
Catalan
gairebé
/gəjɾəˈbe/
other source · Catalan gaire 'much' (of Germanic origin) + bé 'well'
English
almost
/ˈɔlmoʊst/
native English · Old English ealmǣst
English → ItalianalmostquasiNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: quasi-.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
QUASI‘as if, nearly’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Italian keeps the Latin form whole; Spanish dropped the w-glide (casi); French says 'nearly' with près 'near'.
English relatives: quasi-
Learn it
In a sentence
- esSon casi las diez.
- frIl est presque dix heures.
- itSono quasi le dieci.
- ptSão quase dez horas.
- roE aproape ora zece.
- caSón gairebé les deu.
- enIt's almost ten.