The Meaning of "Nearly"

The Meaning of "Nearly"

When we say something is "nearly" a certain amount or close to a certain goal, it means that it is very close but not exactly that amount or goal. Imagine you are trying to fill a jar with marbles and you want to fill it with 100 marbles. If you have 95 marbles in the jar, you can say that it is nearly full because you are very close to reaching your goal of 100 marbles.

For children, think of it as being almost at the finish line of a race but not quite crossing it yet. You are very close to finishing, but you haven't quite reached the end. This is what "nearly" means - being very close but not quite there yet.

For adults, "nearly" can also be used when talking about time. If you have a meeting at 2 o'clock and you arrive at 1:55, you can say that you are nearly on time because you are close to the scheduled time but not exactly there.

So, next time you hear the word "nearly" used in a sentence, remember that it means being very close to a certain amount, goal, or time but not exactly reaching it yet.