English has one word for “almost.” French has several, and each one carries its own shade of meaning. Choosing the right one depends on what kind of “almost” you mean: almost finished, almost fell over, almost midday, or almost but not quite. The main options are presque, quasiment, à peu près, pas tout à fait, faillir, and manquer de. Below is a look at each one, with examples showing how they behave in real sentences.

Presque

Presque is the standard, everyday word for “almost.” It works with adjectives, adverbs, nouns and verbs, and covers most situations without sounding formal or unusual. If you only learn one French word for “almost,” this is the one to know.

• Il est presque midi – “It is almost midday.”
• Le travail est presque terminé – “The work is almost finished.”
• Elle a presque fini son repas – “She has almost finished her meal.”
• Nous sommes presque arrivés – “We are almost there.”
• C’est presque impossible – “It is almost impossible.”

Presque can also combine with a negative to mean “hardly any” or “almost none.”

• Il n’y a presque plus de pain – “There is almost no bread left.”
• Elle ne dort presque plus – “She hardly sleeps anymore.”

Quasiment

Quasiment means much the same as presque, but it is a bit more informal and carries a stronger sense of “practically” or “virtually.” It is common in spoken French and turns up less often in formal writing.

• C’est quasiment la même chose – “It is practically the same thing.”
• Il fait quasiment nuit – “It is almost dark.”
• J’ai quasiment fini – “I have almost finished.”
• Elle a quasiment tout mangé – “She has almost eaten everything.”

Because quasiment leans casual, it fits naturally in conversation but can sound a little loose in a formal report or a business letter, where presque is the safer choice.

À peu près

À peu près means “almost” in the sense of “approximately” or “roughly.” It is used for estimates, quantities, times and measurements, rather than for actions or states.

• Il est à peu près trois heures – “It is about three o’clock.”
• Le trajet dure à peu près deux heures – “The trip takes roughly two hours.”
• Il y avait à peu près cent personnes – “There were around a hundred people.”
• Le prix est à peu près correct – “The price is more or less right.”

This is the phrase to use when you are estimating a number or a quantity rather than describing how close something came to happening.

Pas tout à fait

Pas tout à fait means “not quite” or “not entirely.” It looks at the same situation from the opposite direction to presque: instead of saying something is almost done, it says something is not fully done.

• Le repas n’est pas tout à fait prêt – “The meal is not quite ready.”
• Ce n’est pas tout à fait vrai – “That is not entirely true.”
• Je n’ai pas tout à fait compris – “I did not quite understand.”
• Elle n’est pas tout à fait convaincue – “She is not entirely convinced.”

Pas tout à fait and presque often describe the same gap between two states, just from different sides. “The meal is almost ready” and “the meal is not quite ready” say roughly the same thing in different words, and French offers both options too.

Faillir + infinitive

Faillir is used to say that someone almost did something, meaning the action came close to happening but did not. It is always followed by a verb in the infinitive, and faillir itself is conjugated in the past tense (usually the passé composé).

• J’ai failli tomber – “I almost fell.”
• Il a failli rater son train – “He almost missed his train.”
• Nous avons failli oublier les clés – “We almost forgot the keys.”
• Elle a failli pleurer – “She almost cried.”

This construction is used specifically for events and actions, not for states or quantities. You would not use faillir to say a meal is almost ready; that is the job of presque.

Manquer de + infinitive

Manquer de followed by an infinitive works in a similar way to faillir, meaning “to almost do something.” It is older-fashioned and more literary, and it is less common in everyday speech, where faillir is preferred.

• Il a manqué de tomber – “He almost fell.”
• J’ai manqué de perdre patience – “I almost lost my temper.”

Note that manquer de has other, more common meanings as well, such as “to lack” (il manque de temps – “he is short of time”), so context matters when reading it.

Choosing between them

• Use presque for general, everyday “almost,” with adjectives, verbs and nouns.
• Use quasiment as an informal alternative to presque, mostly in speech.
• Use à peu près for estimates of time, quantity or measurement.
• Use pas tout à fait when you want to say something is not quite there yet.
• Use faillir + infinitive for actions that nearly happened but did not.
• Use manquer de + infinitive as a more literary version of faillir.

Summary

French does not have a single word that covers everything English speakers mean by “almost.” Presque is the general, all-purpose choice. Quasiment is its informal cousin. À peu près is for estimates and rough figures. Pas tout à fait gives the same idea from the negative side. Faillir and manquer de, both followed by an infinitive, describe actions that nearly took place. Picking the right one comes down to whether you are talking about a state, a quantity, or an event that almost happened.