거의
geoui
A foot stopped just short of the finish line
The picture A foot planted right where you could reach the line but haven't. You didn't touch it — but you know exactly where it is. 거의 is the foot stopped just before the line; 다 is the foot that has stepped onto and over it. 거의 왔어요 still stands in the alley; 다 왔어요 stands at the door.
Where the picture shows up in 거의
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just short of arriving
거의 다 왔어요.
geo-ui da wa-sseo-yo
We're almost there.
A foot stopped one step short at the end of the alley, with your front door already in sight.
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just short of finished
일이 거의 끝났어요.
i-ri geo-ui kkeun-na-sseo-yo
The work is nearly done.
A hand resting on the stack of documents with one last page still to go.
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just short of zero
저는 술을 거의 안 마셔요.
jeo-neun su-reul geo-ui an ma-syeo-yo
I hardly ever drink.
The mark on the drinking scale halted just above zero.
전혀 lands on zero; 거의 안 stops just before it.
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just short of 'every day'
거의 매일 운동해요.
geo-ui mae-il un-dong-hae-yo
I work out almost every day.
A calendar stamped nearly full, with only two boxes left blank.
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just short of identical
둘이 거의 똑같아요.
du-ri geo-ui ttok-ga-ta-yo
The two are practically the same.
Two objects set side by side, one outline off by the width of a hair.
All of it in one picture
거의 is a foot stopped just short of some line. Make the line your front door and it is almost arriving; make it the last page and it is almost finished; make it zero and it is hardly ever drinking; make it every day and it is a calendar with two blanks; make it identical and it is an outline off by a hair. Across all five, only the kind of line moves — the foot always stops in the same place, right in front of it. So 거의 says less that something falls short than that you can already see exactly where the line is.