The most common ways to say "bit by bit" or "little by little" in Japanese?
After using a translator, I found that there are a quite a number of words that all generally mean the same thing:

徐々に, 次第に, 漸次, ぼちぼち, ぼつぼつ

The only word I am using now is ゆっくり, which means slowly.

Could someone help break down the differences between these words, how to use them in context and which words are used the most?

Question

The most common ways to say "bit by bit" or "little by little" in Japanese?
After using a translator, I found that there are a quite a number of words that all generally mean the same thing:

徐々に, 次第に, 漸次, ぼちぼち, ぼつぼつ

The only word I am using now is ゆっくり, which means slowly.

Could someone help break down the differences between these words, how to use them in context and which words are used the most?

Answer

彼は徐々に歩けるようになってきた。空が次第に明るくなってきた。
these two words are mainly used in written language, and sound a little bit difficult.
In this context, i think 少しずつ　or だんだん　is more common and often used. 彼は少しずつ歩けるようになってきた。空がだんだん明るくなってきた。also, you can use them in conversation.

ぼちぼち is little by little, but it's used when someone does something, like "i will do it little by little" and this is not so common, i've never said this word.
As for 漸次,、i rarely see this word.