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How to say 'Mostly' in Japanese | ほとんど

Wondering how to say 'Mostly' in Japanese? You're in the right place!

The Japanese word for Mostly is 'Hotondo', written as ほとんど in Japanese.

    Meaning

    Mostly

    Reading

    Hotondo

    Explanation

    The Japanese adverb 'ほとんど (ほとんど)' means 'mostly' or 'almost all'. It is used to indicate that something applies to the majority or nearly all of a group or situation. It can also imply that something is close to being complete or fully realized. For example: I mostly understand Japanese「ほとんど日本語がわかります」(ほとんどにほんごがわかります). Almost all the students passed the exam「ほとんど学生が試験に合格しました」(ほとんどがくせいがしけんにごうかくしました). Note that 'ほとんど' can also be used in negative sentences to mean 'hardly' or 'scarcely', as in 'I hardly slept last night「ほとんど寝ませんでした」(ほとんどねませんでした)'. This nuance is important as it changes the meaning significantly depending on the context.

    Part Of Speech

    adverb

    Frequency

    432

    Composition

    hiragana

    Handwriting

Hiragana in the Word ほとんど

This word contains 4 Hiragana characters :

  • hiragana

    Reading

    Ho
  • hiragana

    Reading

    To
  • hiragana

    Reading

    N
  • hiragana

    Reading

    Do

Learn the Word ほとんど

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What does 'Hotondo' (ほとんど) mean?

'Hotondo' means 'Mostly' .

To help you master this word, here's an interactive lesson where you'll practice its readings and meanings.