How do you use almost?

    Sometimes students seem to have a problem with the word, almost. Let me show you some examples of things I've heard students say:

    1. Did you find this article easy to read?
    2. Yes. Almost I understood.

    1. What do you do at weekends?
    2. Almost I play golf.

    1. Do you like Audrey Hepburn?
    2. Yes. Almost Japanese like Audrey Hepburn.

    I think the problem with these sentences is that many people in Japan think that almost in English is exactly the same as ほとんど in Japanese. However, although almost can sometimes translate as ほとんど, it is sometimes different. In this lesson, I will talk about the correct use of almost and then give you a chance to correct the sentences above.

    So, how do we use almost?

    ALMOST OFTEN MEANS "A LITTLE LESS THAN...":
    Here are some examples:

    1. John's a big guy. He weighs almost 80 kilogrammes.
      QUESTION: About how much does John weigh?

    2. Hi, Mary. Is this your daughter? She's almost as tall as you.
      QUESTION: Is Mary's daughter taller than, shorter than, or the same height as Mary?

    3. He's been sick for almost a week.
      QUESTION: Has he been sick for a full seven days?

    ANSWERS:

    1. John probably weighs 77, 78 or 79 kilogrammes.
    2. Mary's daughter is probably just a few centimetres shorter than her mother.
    3. No. He's probably been sick for 4 or 5 days.

    Note:
    In all the above cases, nearly could replace almost.

    SUBJECT + ALMOST + VERB:
    Look at these examples:

    • My brother was such a good swimmer that he was almost picked for the Olympics.
    • The knife slipped as I was slicing the onions, and I almost cut myself.
    • The roads were really icy this morning. At one point, I almost skidded off the road.

    Again, in all these examples, almost could be replaced by nearly. My brother wasn't picked for the Olympics, I didn't cut myself, I didn't skid off the road but, it was a ギリギリ thing.

    With some verbs, I almost... means something like I wanted to, but I didn't:

    • I almost hit him when he said I was fat.
    • John almost cried when he read Mary's goodbye message.

    ALMOST + ALL, EVERY, ANY:
    Almost can be used with words like all, every, everyone, any, anything, anywhere etc:

    • Almost everyone I know is coming to the party next week.
    • Almost all of our students cycle to school.
    • Clothes, furniture, musical instruments, exotic food items - you can buy almost anything at Harrods.

    *Note:
    You cannot usually use a noun straight after almost. Therefore, you cannot say: Almost Japanese eat rice at least twice a day. Instead, you would have to say something like:

    • Almost everyone in Japan eats rice at least twice a day.
    • Most Japanese people eat rice at least twice a day.

    One of the few cases where you could use almost + noun would be in a sentence like:

    • You know, our son is growing up now. He's almost a man.
      (In other words: he will soon be a man).

    ALMOST + ADJECTIVE:
    Almost will sound strange with many adjectives. For example, you wouldn't say almost good, almost small, almost beautiful. However, almost can collocate with adjectives like these:

    • My grandfather's almost blind / deaf / bald.
    • The baby's almost almost asleep / awake.

    You can also use almost with some 'extreme adjectives' like perfect, priceless, impossible, inevitable, certain:

    • Who's that girl who sang the last aria? She was almost perfect.
    • This painting is worth hundreds of thousands of pounds - it's almost priceless.
    • You can buy processed cheese in this town but it's almost impossible to get real cheese.
    • It's almost inevitable that he'll be the next president.
      (Or alternatively: He'll almost inevitably be the next president).
    • He's almost certain to pass his driving test this time.
      (Or alternatively: He'll almost certainly pass his driving test this time).

    Exercise

    Now let's take another look at the 3 examples from the top of the page:

    1. Did you find this article easy to read?
    2. Yes. Almost I understood.

    1. What do you do at weekends?
    2. Almost I play golf.

    1. Do you like Audrey Hepburn?
    2. Yes. Almost Japanese like Audrey Hepburn.

    Can you say what's wrong with them and rewrite them so that they sound more correct? After you've tried, please click here to check your answers.

    Click here if you want to try some of my other one-point lessons.

    © Robert E. Jones, 2004