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Hello everyone!
This time I'd like to talk about another mistake that I see a lot from my Japanese students.
How do we say 「従兄弟とはほとんど話さなかった」in English? What about「ほとんどの赤ちゃん」?
ほとんど can SOMETIMES be translated as "almost" in English. But not always!
Example 1:
従兄弟とはほとんど話さなかった
X I almost did not speak to my cousins.
O I barely spoke to my cousins / I hardly spoke to my cousins.
I almost did not speak to my cousins = 従兄弟と話さないところだった
ほとんどの赤ちゃんはよく泣く
X Almost babies cry often.
O Most babies cry a lot.
Almost babies cry often = もう少しで赤ちゃんになるものはよく泣く？？？
Good rule: "Almost" は「もう少しで」という意味に近いです。
Now let's look at some examples!
ほとんどの＋名詞
ほとんどの場合はそうです = In most cases, that's true.
ほとんどの人間が経験する痛みです = This is a pain that most humans experience.
ほとんど＋形容詞
ほとんど同じです = It's nearly/basically the same.
ほとんど無料 = It's nearly/basically free.
ほとんど＋否定文
インドの歴史についてはほとんど教えてくれない ＝ They teach us hardly/barely anything about Indian history.
彼の顔がほとんど見えなかった = I could hardly/barely see his face.
ほとんど＋肯定文
二冊はほとんど読み終えた = I've almost finished reading two of the books.
彼女をほとんど無視した。＝ I mostly/basically ignored her.
名詞としてのほとんど
ほとんどが使われていなかった。 = Most of them were not being used.
ほとんどが英語を話していた。＝ Most of them spoke English.
So as you can see, ほとんど has a lot of different translations! If you learn how to use most, mostly, almost, basically, etc., your English will sound much more natural!
-Lizzie
Lizzie H
2025年7月25日
Thank you for reading! I'm glad that the examples were mostly understandable!
akko_chan40
2025年7月25日
I think this column is very helpful. I mostly understood them!