Hindi commonly expresses “approximately/about/almost” with लगभग, क़रीब, and करीबन. All three can precede a number, but their wider uses differ. लगभग is the most broadly neutral approximation marker; क़रीब also means physical or relational nearness; करीबन is a dedicated approximation adverb associated especially with careful or formal speech and writing.
लगभग: neutral approximation
लगभग comes immediately before the number, quantity, set, or property whose exact boundary is being softened.
बैठक में लगभग पचास लोग आए।
baiṭhak meṃ lagbhag pacās log āe.
About fifty people came to the meeting.
काम लगभग पूरा हो गया है।
kām lagbhag pūrā ho gayā hai.
The work is almost complete.
The first example approximates a count. The second places the work near the endpoint “complete,” so English uses almost rather than about. The Hindi word is the same because both meanings weaken an exact boundary.
लगभग सभी दुकानें बंद थीं।
lagbhag sabhī dukāneṃ band thīṃ.
Almost all the shops were closed.
Here लगभग scopes over सभी, not over the act of closing.
क़रीब: approximately and near
Before a numeral, क़रीब means “about.” Careful spelling preserves the nukta in क़, pronounced and romanized q here; common writing also shows करीब, often pronounced with k.
यहाँ से स्टेशन क़रीब दो किलोमीटर है।
yahā̃ se sṭeśan qarīb do kilomīṭar hai.
The station is about two kilometers from here.
क़रीब दस मिनट इंतज़ार करना पड़ेगा।
qarīb das minaṭ intazār karnā paṛegā.
We will have to wait about ten minutes.
क़रीब also expresses actual nearness, often with के or another relational phrase.
मेरा घर मेट्रो स्टेशन के क़रीब है।
merā ghar meṭro sṭeśan ke qarīb hai.
My house is near the metro station.
This spatial use can take degree: बहुत क़रीब “very near.” Approximation लगभग cannot: बहुत लगभग पचास is impossible. That contrast shows that “near” and “about” share a metaphor but not all grammar.
The placement of बहुत, काफ़ी, बिल्कुल with other scalar expressions is treated in degree adverbs.
करीबन: a dedicated approximation adverb
करीबन means “approximately/roughly” and normally precedes a quantity. It is understood widely but is less frequent in casual conversation than लगभग or क़रीब; it is at home in careful, journalistic, and formal reporting.
परियोजना करीबन छह महीने में पूरी होगी।
pariyojnā karīban chah mahīne meṃ pūrī hogī.
The project will be completed in approximately six months. (formal)
गाँव की आबादी करीबन बारह हज़ार है।
gā̃v kī ābādī karīban bārah hazār hai.
The village has a population of approximately twelve thousand. (formal)
The spelling क़रीबन also occurs in nukta-preserving usage and would be romanized qarīban. Do not randomly alternate q and k in the romanization of one written form: romanize क़ as q and क as k.
Preposed marker versus के करीब
Approximation can appear before a measure or after it in a postpositional phrase.
रास्ते में करीब एक घंटा लगेगा।
rāste meṃ karīb ek ghaṇṭā lagegā.
The journey will take about an hour.
रास्ते में एक घंटे के करीब लगेगा।
rāste meṃ ek ghaṇṭe ke karīb lagegā.
The journey will take close to an hour.
The first uses lexical करीब before the quantity. The second uses the oblique measure एक घंटे before के करीब. Both are natural, but the second makes the “close to” relation more explicit. Hindi thus uses both lexical adverbs and oblique/postpositional material where English may use the same word about.
Position changes scope
Compare approximation of a participant count with near-completion of an event.
लगभग सौ लोग पहुँच गए थे।
lagbhag sau log pahũc gae the.
Approximately one hundred people had arrived.
सौ लोग लगभग पहुँच गए थे।
sau log lagbhag pahũc gae the.
One hundred people had almost arrived.
In the first, लगभग modifies सौ. In the second, it stands by the predicate and means that the group was close to arriving. Moving an approximation marker is therefore a real scope change, not stylistic freedom.
Focus particles stay with their own host: क़रीब दस ही लोग means “only about ten people.” ही क़रीब दस लोग is not the neutral order for that meaning.
Reduplication and conversational approximation
क़रीब-क़रीब can mean “almost/nearly,” often emphasizing that a boundary has very nearly been reached.
हमारा काम क़रीब-क़रीब ख़त्म हो गया है।
hamārā kām qarīb-qarīb xatm ho gayā hai.
Our work is almost finished.
बस, बीस मिनट के करीब लगेंगे।
bas, bīs minaṭ ke karīb lageṅge.
It'll take around twenty minutes, that's all. (conversational)
The idiomatic बस frames the estimate as reassuringly limited. It does not form part of the numerical phrase.
Exactness and approximation
Exact markers such as ठीक “exactly” and approximation markers normally conflict: ठीक पाँच बजे is exactly five, while लगभग पाँच बजे is around five. A speaker can say लगभग ठीक only in a special metalinguistic sense, not as the neutral way to give a time.
Approximation markers are already degree operators. They do not take an English-style adverb suffix, and करीबन should not be treated as a suffix product that can be attached to any adjective.
Common Mistakes
❌ लगभग क़रीब पचास लोग आए।
Unnatural redundancy—लगभग and क़रीब perform the same approximation job here.
✅ लगभग पचास लोग आए।
lagbhag pacās log āe.
About fifty people came.
❌ बहुत लगभग काम पूरा है।
Incorrect—लगभग cannot be graded by बहुत and belongs next to पूरा.
✅ काम लगभग पूरा है।
kām lagbhag pūrā hai.
The work is almost complete.
❌ सौ लगभग लोग आए।
Incorrect for ‘approximately one hundred people’—लगभग precedes the complete numeral phrase.
✅ लगभग सौ लोग आए।
lagbhag sau log āe.
Approximately one hundred people came.
❌ बैठक शुरू होगी पाँच बजे लगभग।
Unnatural neutral stacking—the approximation phrase normally precedes the predicate.
✅ बैठक लगभग पाँच बजे शुरू होगी।
baiṭhak lagbhag pā̃c baje śurū hogī.
The meeting will start at about five o'clock.
Key Takeaways
- लगभग neutrally approximates numbers, sets, and endpoints.
- क़रीब/करीब expresses both approximation and literal nearness; बहुत क़रीब is possible only with the nearness meaning.
- करीबन is a dedicated approximation adverb common in careful and formal reporting.
- Position determines whether a number or an event endpoint is approximate.
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