almost与mostly在用法上有什么区别?RT.

Question

almost与mostly在用法上有什么区别?
RT.

Answer 1

还有一个词容易与这两个单词弄混.
Mostly = of all the options,this is the majority.
Almost = good enough but not perfect.
Nearly = very close to the optimal position but not quite there.
The three words should not be used interchangably or there is a possibility of bad English useage.This could lead to misunderstanding of what you're trying to say,depending on the context.
1.His books are mostly useless= the majority of the books written by him cannot be used for anything.
2.His books are almost useless = the content of his books are not fit for purpose.
3.His books are nearly useless = his books can be used but they need additional material to support them.
4.He mostly succeeded = very bad English,this is not a correct use of the word 'mostly' and is a very lazy or inarticulate way of saying "almost".
5.He almost succeeded = he came very close to success.
6.He nearly succeeded = he failed by a discernable margin.
7.His life had mostly completed its span = bad English,incorrect use of 'mostly'.If you want to use 'mostly' in this context you should say "Most of his life was over".The meaning is then self-evident.
8.His life had almost completed its span = again this is bad English because it implies that the span of his life was nearly complete but somehow he missed the end.That is nonsense.
9.His life had nearly completed its span = he was close to death.
Source(s):
Education.I love my language.English is the finest communication tool that mankind has and it's heartbreaking to see it mangled,along with the subsequent misunderstanding.See how the people of the USA seem to change the meaning of words at a whim and then see the mess they make.