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almost always and always
Please, can someone help me to undertsand the difference of meaning between these two words:
"almost always" & "always". I'm kinda confused with "almost always". I do understand this like "never". Am I right? Thank you for helping. ana
Ana, you really should look up "almost" in an English-[Ana's native language] dictionary. I doubt there is any language in the world that doesn't have an equivalent for it. It's a basic word and without it you will misunderstand too many sentences.
Phroetious and Invité are right: "almost always" means most of the time (for example, 95% of the time as opposed to 100% of the time).
I think we have to look at context. "Almost always" means one thing, but "almost" in another context means something missing the mark.
"He almost made it to the Olympics." Did he make it? No. He never made it.
But then don't forget 'always' is often used in a hyperbolic sense when technically the user should say 'almost always':
"You're always hungry!" - if you were hungry 100% of the time you'd be dead "I'm always happy to help anyone" - what about helping me murder someone?
<<I think we have to look at context. "Almost always" means one thing, but "almost" in another context means something missing the mark.
"He almost made it to the Olympics." Did he make it? No. He never made it.>> That's true; it depends on whether it's an either-or proposition. If an athlete's performance is 95% of what is required to make it to the Olympics, then he doesn't make it.
He almost always made it to the finals.
He almost made it to the finals. He always made it to the finals. He almost never made it to the finals. a. most of the time b. he didn't make it (and we don't know how many times he tried.) c. every time d. rarely (but it did happen)
Thank you guys so much for explaination. K.T, I understand now. Thanks a lot.
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