Translation guide
Expresses a very small quantity or number, close to zero. In Japanese, this is commonly conveyed with negative sentence patterns, adverbs, or specific quantifier expressions.
The speaker wants to say there is almost none of something, or very few of something.
The most common and versatile pattern. ほとんど means 'almost' and is used with a negative verb to mean 'hardly any' or 'almost no'. Works with both countable and uncountable nouns.
冷蔵庫にほとんど食べ物がない。
There's hardly any food in the fridge.
この町にはほとんど人がいない。
There are hardly any people in this town.
Means 'not much' or 'not many'. Slightly less emphatic than ほとんど～ない, but still conveys a very small amount. Often used in spoken Japanese.
今日はあまり時間がない。
I have hardly any time today.
この辺にはあまり店がない。
There are hardly any shops around here.
Literally 'only a tiny bit'. Emphasizes the smallness of the quantity. しか～ない is a pattern meaning 'only', and ほんの少し means 'just a little'.
ほんの少ししかお金がない。
I have hardly any money.
The speaker wants to emphasize that there are very few countable items or people.
Literally 'only enough to count'. Used for countable items when there are very few. Conveys 'hardly any' in a vivid way.
観光客は数えるほどしかいなかった。
There were hardly any tourists.
Also works for countable nouns when combined with counters or plural-like expressions.
彼にはほとんど友達がいない。
He has hardly any friends.
The speaker wants to say that an action almost never happens.
Used with verbs to mean 'hardly ever' or 'almost never'. The negative verb form follows ほとんど.
彼はほとんどテレビを見ない。
He hardly ever watches TV.
最近はほとんど運動していない。
I've been getting hardly any exercise lately.
Means 'rarely' or 'hardly ever'. Stronger than あまり～ない and often used for habitual actions.
彼はめったに怒らない。
He hardly ever gets angry.
Do not try to translate 'hardly any' word-for-word. There is no single Japanese word that directly corresponds. Always use a negative sentence pattern with ほとんど, あまり, etc.
ほとんど～ない means 'almost none' or 'hardly any', implying near zero. あまり～ない means 'not much' or 'not many', implying a small amount but not necessarily near zero. Use ほとんど～ない for stronger emphasis.