This paper makes a detailed study on the Chinese learners' use of almost and nearly by comparing the evidence from CLEC, WECCL and LOB. The findings show there are some differences in the learners' and the native speakers' use of the two commonly-used synonyms. Specifically, the Chinese learners (1) display an underuse of both almost and nearly in the overall frequency point of view; (2) tend to overuse, underuse and misuse some colligations; (3) use some inappropriate and atypical collocates; (4) get confused in some colligational and collocational patterns of almost and nearly. The discussions about the above differences reveal the learners' mother tongue interference and their confusion of the two synonyms may play important roles in these non-native uses. Some tentative suggestions are provided to English teaching and learning in China.
