almost / almost all / almost all of

Preview　（腕試し）

Which of the following sentences are natural?

（次の文章の中では、どれが自然でしょうか？　チェックボックスも利用できます。）

1. I almost missed my bus, but I didn't.

2. Almost my friends like watching movies.

3. Yumiko was almost late for her lesson.

4. Almost people are kind and gentle, but a few are not.

5. I think almost all of my students enjoy studying.

A. 1, 3 & 5

B. 2 & 4

C. all

D. none

　

Quick Glossary （用語辞典）

verb = 動詞

noun = 名詞

pronoun = 代名詞

adjective = 形容詞

specific = 特定の

Translation Note (翻訳について)

Almost is not a perfect translation for ほとんど. Almost is an adverb, so it isn't put directly before a noun. I often hear sentences like the following that seem to come from an effort by the speaker to directly translate ほとんど:

Almost children like video games. (Note that this is not natural.)

In this case, the adjective most could be used:

Most children like video games.

Another way to fix this sentence is to use almost all (all is an adjective):

Almost all children like video games.

Almost all of (all is a pronoun) + a very specific group could also be used:

Almost all of the children in Japan like video games.

Note that the terms almost all or almost all of would indicate a larger number or amount than most.

Explanation （説明）& Examples（例文)

Note that these are only a few of the possible uses of almost. I've chosen these because they are the ones that come up the most in my lessons.

almost + verb (Used to explain something that could have happened, but didn't.) Ayako almost dropped her cellular phone, but she caught it before it hit the floor. I left my home late this morning, so I almost missed my train. I ran to the station as fast as I could and I was just able to catch it.

almost all / most + noun Almost all people like to go to the movies. Stan likes almost all kinds of sushi, but he doesn't really care for yellowtail. These sentence can be expressed using most: Most people like to go to the movies. Stan likes most kinds of sushi, but he doesn't really care for yellowtail.

almost all of + specific group Almost all of the people in Osaka seem to like takoyaki, but I'm sure there are people here who don't. Jack likes almost all of his co-workers. I think almost all of my students study hard. Note the use of the, his, and my in these sentences! A sentence such as the following would sound unnatural: I think almost all of students study hard. (no "my")

Exercises（練習）

1. Jorge was almost almost all most late for work, but he arrived on time.

2. Do you believe that almost almost all almost all of people are basically good?

3. Sumiko hasn't been abroad, but she says that almost most almost all of her classmates have.

4. Although she likes almost almost all almost all of kinds of music, Sumie really loves jazz the most.

5. I didn't look carefully when I was crossing the road so I was almost almost all most hit by a bus.

6. Don't you think that almost most almost all of the people who study English want to learn culture as well as language?

7. Keiko almost almost all almost all of forgot her umbrella, but she suddenly remembered it as she was walking out the door.

8. Almost Most Almost all of CDs in Japan come with the lyrics to the songs, but quite a few in the U.S. don't.

9. There have been many times when I almost almost all most dropped my camera, but there have also been two times when I actually did!

10. It seems that almost most almost all of the people I know have a cell phone.

Answers:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

6. 7. 8. 9. 10.