What is "Almost" in Japanese


I have never actually seen the words for almost used in Japanese. Below are
the various translations for "Almost" that I came accross:

> 「大方」
>
> 「粗」
>
> 「九分」
>
> 「殆」
>
> 「もう少しで」

Could you please highlight which should I use in those generic contexts? And
also how to use them?

  * I almost fell down
  * I pray almost every day
  * Almost all the gold is gone (to contrast with "Most of the gold is gone")




There is no one particular Japanese word that you can use everytime you want
to use "almost" in English contexts.

> "I almost fell down." = 「もう[少]{すこ}しで[転]{ころ}ぶところだった。」

That would be by far the most natural Japanese sentence. Native speakers would
almost never say 「ほとんど転んだ。」 unless they were trying to sound humorous. You, as
a learner, could end up arriving at that if you tried to "directly translate"
the English sentence "I almost fell down."

> "I pray almost every day." = 「ほとんど（or ほぼ）[毎日]{まいにち}お[祈]{いの}り（を）します。」

With this one (and the next one), you could use ほとんど/ほぼ like you would use
"almost" in English.

> "Almost all the gold is gone." = 「ほとんど（or ほぼ）[全]{すべ}ての[金]{きん}がなくなってしまった（or
> simply なくなった）。」




There is no one particular Japanese word that you can use everytime you want
to use "almost" in English contexts.

> "I almost fell down." = 「もう[少]{すこ}しで[転]{ころ}ぶところだった。」

That would be by far the most natural Japanese sentence. Native speakers would
almost never say 「ほとんど転んだ。」 unless they were trying to sound humorous. You, as
a learner, could end up arriving at that if you tried to "directly translate"
the English sentence "I almost fell down."

> "I pray almost every day." = 「ほとんど（or ほぼ）[毎日]{まいにち}お[祈]{いの}り（を）します。」

With this one (and the next one), you could use ほとんど/ほぼ like you would use
"almost" in English.

> "Almost all the gold is gone." = 「ほとんど（or ほぼ）[全]{すべ}ての[金]{きん}がなくなってしまった（or
> simply なくなった）。」

