Hello! My name is ドゥーニャ　and I'm an English teacher who is also a student of Japanese.

Today I’d like to discuss a common issue Japanese students make when speaking English!

I hope this article will help you understand the difference between the Japanese ほとんどand the English “almost”. 

How would you say ほとんどの友達はこの映画が好きです in English?

Some Japanese people would say: “Almost my friends like this movie”.

In English, this sounds wrong – “Almost my friends”.

Why “almost friends”? For a native speaker, this sounds like those people are not your friends yet, just acquaintances – something like 知り合いで、ほとんど友達です.

The correct answer is: “Almost ALL my friends like this movie.“

In English, “almost” always needs an additional word!

Almost all. Almost every day. Almost never. Almost five. Almost sweet. It’s almost time. I’m almost there. You almost understand!

Let’s see some more examples:

ほとんどの時間を練習に費やす。

I spend almost ALL my time practicing.

ほとんどの本が古いです。

Almost ALL books are old.

Sometimes, it’s very similar to Japanese. Just remember that “almost” always needs an additional explaining word:

それはほとんど不可能だ。
That’s almost impossible.

これらはほとんど同じです。

These are almost the same.

ほとんど働けなかった。

I almost couldn’t work.

彼はほとんど来ない。

He almost NEVER comes.

To be honest, learning how to use ほとんどin Japanese was difficult for me! :)

If you're looking to practice English, check out my lessons!