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Quasiment or presque: almost, nearly all and hardly anyone

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Use presque and quasiment for near-completion and quantities. Compare presque tout, presque personne and nearly forgotten actions, then check your reading.

In short

Presque and quasiment both mean “almost” in phrases such as presque fini and quasiment fini. Presque is the broad everyday choice; quasiment often feels like “practically”. Look at what follows: presque tout is almost everything, while presque personne is almost nobody.

Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn

Volunteers making the final small preparations for an event in a nearly ready community hall.
Final details give context to presque fini. Illustration: Atelier

Almost: four patterns to keep

1 · A state that is nearly reached

Both adverbs work before an adjective. They stay invariable; the adjective agrees with its noun.

presque prêt / presque prêtealmost ready
quasiment complet / quasiment complètepractically complete

Le programme est presque complet.The programme is almost complete.

Les inscriptions sont quasiment terminées.Registration is practically finished.

2 · Almost all of a group

Use the whole phrase: presque tous les or presque toutes les. Quasiment also fits these examples.

J’ai lu presque toutes les annonces.I’ve read almost all the notices.

Nous avons quasiment tout vérifié.We’ve checked practically everything.

3 · Almost nobody or almost nothing

In standard written sentences, keep ne with personne or rien. These phrases express a very small amount.

Presque personne ne répond.Hardly anyone replies.

Il ne reste quasiment rien à modifier.There’s practically nothing left to change.

4 · An action that nearly happened

The position of presque matters. Compare nearly forgetting one task with actually forgetting most of several tasks.

J’ai presque oublié de répondre, mais j’ai envoyé mon message à temps.I nearly forgot to reply, but I sent my message in time.

J’ai oublié presque toutes les réponses.I’ve forgotten almost all the answers.

What is left to do?

Avant la publication
  1. Nora

    Le programme est presque prêt. Il manque seulement l’heure du débat.

    The programme is almost ready. Only the time of the debate is missing.

  2. Samir

    Et les inscriptions ?

    And registration?

  3. Nora

    Elles sont quasiment terminées. Il reste deux noms à vérifier.

    It’s practically finished. There are two names left to check.

  4. Samir

    Alors, on vérifie ces deux noms avant de publier.

    Then let’s check those two names before publishing.

The two remaining names make the situation concrete. Neither adverb carries a fixed percentage. In presque toutes les annonces, the near-total amount concerns the notices; in presque personne, it concerns an absence of people. Keep “almost” or “hardly” in the English translation so that the small difference remains visible.

Question 1No account needed
What does this mean?Presque personne n’a répondu.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Hardly anyone has replied.. Presque personne means almost nobody: a small number may have replied.

Question 2No account needed
Choose the correct agreement.Les inscriptions sont ___.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

presque terminées. Presque stays invariable. Terminées agrees with feminine plural inscriptions.

Question 3No account needed
Which sentence says that a reply was sent in time?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

J’ai presque oublié de répondre, mais je l’ai fait à temps.. The first sentence explicitly says the near-mistake was avoided: je l’ai fait à temps.

Question 4No account needed
In the scene, is the programme ready to publish immediately?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

No, the debate time is missing.. Nora says Il manque seulement l’heure du débat: that detail still needs adding.

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