Grammar Info

N4 Lesson 5: 3/20

殆(ほとん)どAlmost all, Most, Hardly any, Few (Adverbial noun)

generally written in kana, though 殆ど form can also be seen

Structure

ほとんど + Phrase
ほとんど + (Negative) Phrase

Details

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About ほとんど

The adverb ほとんど is used in many situations in Japanese, and often translates as 'most', 'hardly any', 'almost all', and similar expressions. The nuance will always depend on the rest of the sentence. The most accurate translation for the word ほとんど itself is simply 'almost', where the thing that it is describing is always considered to be a full group, rather than a single thing.

As with many other adverbs that highlight an 'amount' in Japanese, ほとんど can modify a whole phrase, or can be used before の, to further specify a single noun.

In negative sentences, ほとんど translates as 'hardly any'. This is mainly due to the 'full group' that ほとんど is describing being highlighted as almost 'not' existing.

Related

Examples

--:--

    みんなは、ほとんど帰(かえ)りました。

    Almost everyone has gone home.

    ハンドバッグがほとんど売(う)り切(き)れでした。

    The handbags were almost all sold out.

    今日(きょう)は宿題(しゅくだい)がほとんどない。

    There is hardly any homework today. (almost/mostly none)

    この湖(みずうみ)はほとんど浅(あさ)いと思(おも)う。

    This lake is mostly shallow, I think.

    えっ！この魚(さかな)ほとんど匂(にお)いがない。

    Huh?! This fish hardly has any smell. (almost/mostly none)

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ほとんど – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (6 in total)

  • Pushindawood

    Pushindawood

    almost all・most
    hardly any・few
    adverbial noun

    Structure

    • ほとんど + Phrase
    • ほとんど + Phrase = almost all ・ most
    • ほとんど + ない = hardly any ・ few

    usually written in kana

    View on Bunpro

  • deltacat3

    deltacat3

    In the follow example sentence…

    田中さんはまたどこか行くのですか。彼はほとんどの国に行っているんじゃないですか。
    Tanaka-san is going somewhere again? he has been to almost all of the countries, hasn’t he?

    Why is ～ている translated into the past tense? I am currently only familiar with its progressive form (i.e. to be doing).

  • s1212z

    s1212z

    It sounds like a translation choice to me. Since we know he is going again, the English progressive got left out so perhaps: “He has been going to almost all of the countries, hasn’t he?” might work too.

  • deltacat3

    deltacat3

    Oh hey again s1212z! (^O^)／

    Your translation makes alot of sense to me. So is it safe to assume that ～ている can also imply actions that happened in the past and continue to be happening into the present? (Apologies if i’m being to pedantic on the topic (^.^;）)

  • s1212z

    s1212z

    Hi deltacat3!

    This sounds correct to me. The starting point in past is in the context of course but I think there are some special meaning 行っている or action verbs with いる that was mentioned in Guide to Japanese (see motion verb section). They mention it doesn’t necessarily have a “going” type of implication but this sounds like word play to me. Also

  • Superpnut

    Superpnut

    I don’t know if this was intended or not so I am just posting here in case it isn’t.

    The review accepted あまり when the review is for ほとんど. Normally when Bunpro is looking for a particular grammar point it makes it pretty clear but it just accepted it this time. Which is odd since I don’t even know is あまり would actually work since after reviewing it it appears it has to be immediately followed by a noun/adj/verb. Anyways

    今日は宿題が --ほとんど-- ない。Is the grammar point

  • Fuga

    Fuga

    Hey! This seems like a input error on our end, and We have just fixed it! あまりない can work here and be understood, however, having a noun/adj/verb after あまり would flow better and make the sentence sound more natural.

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