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

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.