Level 5 · Advanced
As much as possible: 尽量
尽量 + Verb Phrase · Traditional: 儘量 + Verb Phrase
尽量 (jǐnliàng) means "to the best of one's ability": 我会尽量早点到 "I'll try my best to arrive early." It promises effort, not results — which makes it the perfect word for commitments you're not 100% sure you can keep.
That's exactly how it differs from 一定, which promises the result itself. A boss hears 我尽量 as "maybe"; they hear 我一定 as "done."
Examples
我会尽量早点到。
我會儘量早點到。
wǒ huì jǐn liàng zǎo diǎn dào
I'll do my best to arrive early.
请大家尽量坐到前面来。
請大家儘量坐到前面來。
qǐng dà jiā jǐn liàng zuò dào qián miàn lái
Please sit toward the front if you can.
能自己做的事，尽量不要麻烦别人。
能自己做的事，儘量不要麻煩別人。
néng zì jǐ zuò de shì jǐn liàng bù yào má fan bié ren
If you can do it yourself, try not to trouble others.
他尽量让自己冷静下来。
他儘量讓自己冷靜下來。
tā jǐn liàng ràng zì jǐ lěng jìng xià lai
He did his best to calm himself down.
Common mistakes
✗ 别担心，我尽量明天把钱还你，肯定没问题。
✓ 别担心，我明天一定把钱还你。
尽量 promises effort, not certainty — pairing it with "definitely" contradicts itself.
Related grammar points
Practice this pattern in graded stories like Moving Day (Part 6) inside the Literate Chinese app.
