近 used as in "close to" (for quantities)

[agimcomas]

Hello,

I have a question regarding the usage of 近. I came by this phrase in one of my textbooks:

留到现在的诗有近一千道

I can't confirm the usage of 近 to mean "close to" when referring to quantities. All dictionaries I consulted only mention the meaning of "close to" as in proximity to some place.

Can anyone confirm that the word can be used to mean 差不多，左右, etc.?

Thanks you.

[skylee]

I can confirm that.

[abcdefg]

In your example sentence, it means "nearly."

[lukelee]

Yes, 近 is simillar to 差不多，左右, etc.

e.g.

每年有近1百万人死于吸烟。

近5成受访者不满意航空公司服务态度。

近15万难民受困于伊拉克边近。

sometimes you see 将近，which is almost same as 近, but I feel more close to 差不多，左右.

[muyongshi]

In this context it is considered a verb (remember that these parts of speech don't have the exact same meaning/usage we have in English) and means approximately or approaching (Definition #2 in Pleco). The Chinese words we'd use to expand the meaning/understanding is 接近 or 靠近 (规范's 2nd definition).

[skylee]

I think the verb is 有. But I agree that here 近 means 接近.

[muyongshi]

In the sentence, yes the operative verb is 有, my comment was referring to the usage that the 规范词典 lists 近 as. I think if we think a bit more abstractly about this 近一千 could be a verb if we translate it as approaching a thousand. Just my thoughts.

[nasan]

1."近“ means around or approximately. 2. The classifier is incorrect in the sentence. It should be "留到现在的诗有近一千首。” I don't know whether this is a typo or not.

[agimcomas]

Indeed, I made a typo. The quote from my textbook actually is "留到现在的诗有近一千首". 

 

I'm glad to learn that here 近 means 按金.

 

Thank you so much for your answers. 

[imron]

I'm glad to learn that here 近 means 按金.

It does not mean 按金.

 

Please look at the characters written above in more detail: 接 is not 按 (and obviously 近 is not 金 but I think that was just your IME choosing something sounding like 'jin' after you wrote 'an').

 

Anyway, at the moment, it looks like you are starting to develop a habit of not quite paying enough attention to characters and substituting them with ones you think you see instead of ones you actually see (首、道，接、按 etc).  There are so many similar characters in Chinese (see here for some of them), that you really need to develop the habit of paying close attention to each character, otherwise you're going to be lost wondering why a sentence doesn't make any sense, only to find that you read it wrong.

[abcdefg]

There are so many similar characters in Chinese (see here for some of them), that you really need to develop the habit of paying close attention to each character, otherwise you're going to be lost wondering why a sentence doesn't make any sense, only to find that you read it wrong.

 

Wise words. I can attest that it's important. Happens to me when I'm in a hurry or lazy.

[imron]

It happens to all of us

 

That's why it's important to try and foster good habits, and discourage bad ones.