how to use "almost"

For today’s English lesson, let’s look at how to use almost. This word can be confusing for a lot of English learners. 

Read and take a quiz.
Don't say, "Almost people like pizza..."

First of all almost is an adverb and basically means, “very nearly” or “close, but not”.  We often use almost plus a past verb. For example,

• I was late this morning and I almost missed my train. My train departs at 8:00, and I arrived at the station at 7:58am.

I almost missed my train mean, I was able to ride the train, but I was very close to missing it. I almost missed it. Here are some other examples:

• I went to the Apple store. I was checking out the new MacBook. It was so nice. I almost bought it, but I decided to save my money instead.
• I had to work late last night. I almost missed Jack’s party, but luckily there were still people at his house when I arrived.

We also use almost always as a frequency adverb. Always means 100%, so almost always means pretty close to 100%. Compare these two sentences:

• I always eat yogurt for breakfast (100% of the time)
• I almost always eat yogurt for breakfast. (Not 100% of the time, but pretty close to 100%)

Here are some other examples:

• The boss is angry because Jack is almost always late for work.
• We almost always drink wine with dinner.

In a similar way, we use almost never as a frequency adverb. Almost never means rarely or hardly ever. For example:

• I almost never go bowling.
• Tommy is our most reliable employee. He is almost never late for work.

Lastly, when you want to talk about nearly all things or people  in a certain group (or the world) you can use almost all plus a plural noun. All means 100%, almost all means nearly all. For example,
Almost all people like pizza
Please be careful! Don’t say, “Almost people like pizza” A lot of English learners forget to use all. When you use almost plus a noun (without all), it means nearly that noun. So almost people means “nearly people,” like, I don't know, monkeys? Monkeys are almost people! So please be careful. Almost all! Here are some other examples:

• Almost all new Yorkers walk quickly.
• Almost all Americans can drive.

When you want to talk about nearly all things or people in a certain group, you can useAlmost all of  plus a plural noun.

• Almost all of my friends like to eat pizza.
• Almost all of jack’s coworkers are from France

Now, take the quiz!

ALMOST

Question 1

Tommy thinks that _____ of his friends are smarter than he is.

A	almost
B	almost all
C	almost always
D	almost never
Question 2

We _____ didn't wake up on time for work today.

A	almost
B	almost all
C	almost always
D	almost never

Question 3

I was late again because I _____ take too long to get ready.

A	almost
B	almost all
C	almost always
D	almost never
Question 4

Did you know that _____ New Yorkers don’t have a car?

A	almost
B	almost all
C	almost always
D	almost never

Question 5

She said she _____ goes there because it’s too far.

A	almost
B	almost all
C	almost always
D	almost never
Question 6

I _____ eat healthy food and I usually watch out for junk food!

A	almost
B	almost all
C	almost always
D	almost never

Question 7

_____ of my classmates are from Europe.

A	almost
B	almost all
C	almost always
D	almost never
Question 8

I _____ listen to that kind of music, so I don’t know that singer.

A	almost
B	almost all
C	almost always
D	almost never

The Answers:

1.  almost all

2.  almost

3.  almost always

4.  almost all

5.  almost never

6.  almost always

7.  almost all

8.  almost never