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.
There's hardly any food in the fridge.
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.
I have hardly any time today.
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'.
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.
There were hardly any tourists.
Also works for countable nouns when combined with counters or plural-like expressions.
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.
He hardly ever watches TV.
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.
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.