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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")
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2014-08-20T12:13:54.580
18310
2018-09-18T15:39:58.020
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
-1
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question
word-choice usage
What is "Almost" in Japanese
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）。」
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2014-08-20T12:50:37.220
18311
2014-08-20T13:24:41.250
2014-08-20T13:24:41.250
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answer
Similar to the relationship between `だけ` and `しか`, you could also use
`[危]{あや}うく` or `[辛]{かろ}うじて` with the negation/opposite of what you are trying
to say. Since these words mean "barely", the negation/opposite of the premise
would translate together as "almost".

例文:

>   * 危うく終電に間にあった。 → I **_barely caught_** the last train home. → implies "I
> **_almost missed_** the last train home".
>   * 辛うじて試験に合格する → To **_barely pass_** the test → implies "to **_almost
> fail_** the test"
>

`危うく` can also carry the direct meaning of "almost", and be used similar to
`もう少しで`.

>   * 危うく[梯子]{はし・ご}から落ちるところだった。 → I nearly fell off of the ladder.
>
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2014-08-20T15:32:24.110
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2014-08-20T15:32:24.110
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answer