scarcely
gb/skˈɛɹsli/ us/skˈɛɹsli/
B2
Inglés
~ 900
Acepciones
0 acepciones
adverb
B2
property
1
almost not; barely
Used to say that something happens only a little or almost not at all.
Patrón de uso:
scarcely [verb]
Error frecuente:
Learners sometimes confuse 'scarcely' with 'rarely'. 'Scarcely' means 'almost not', while 'rarely' means 'not often'.
Sinónimos
barely (Very close in meaning; often interchangeable but 'barely' is slightly more common in everyday speech.)
|
hardly (Nearly identical in meaning; 'hardly' is more frequent in informal contexts.)
Antónimos
easily (Opposite in that it suggests something is done without difficulty or limitation.)
|
plenty (Opposite in that it indicates more than enough rather than almost none.)
Colocaciones
scarcely believe
|scarcely enough
|scarcely visible
|could scarcely
|scarcely had
Temas
daily life
|time
|degree
|core_vocabulary
Ejemplos
- I could scarcely hear what she was saying over the noise.
- There was scarcely enough food for everyone at the party.
- He had scarcely finished speaking when the phone rang.
- The light was so dim I could scarcely make out his face.
- We had scarcely begun our walk when it started to rain.
Ejemplos para estudiantes
- I can scarcely see the road in this fog.
- We have scarcely any milk left.
- She could scarcely move after the long run.
- He had scarcely closed the door when someone knocked again.
adverb
B2
property
2
only just before
Shows that something happened right before something else happened.
Patrón de uso:
scarcely [past perfect verb] when [past tense verb]
Error frecuente:
Learners sometimes forget to use the past perfect in the first clause with this structure.
Sinónimos
hardly (Very close in meaning and often interchangeable in this time-sequence sense.)
Antónimos
long before (Indicates a large amount of time passed before the second event.)
Colocaciones
scarcely had...when
|scarcely was...before
Temas
time
|sequence
|core_vocabulary
Ejemplos
- I had scarcely sat down when the bell rang.
- She had scarcely arrived before they started asking her questions.
- We had scarcely begun to eat when the lights went out.
Ejemplos para estudiantes
- I had scarcely opened the book when my phone rang.
- She had scarcely finished her homework when her friend called.
- They had scarcely started the game when it began to rain.
Gramática
Expresiones
could scarcely believe
1/kˈʊd skˈɛɹsli bɪlˈiv/
fixed phrase
almost unable to believe something
To be very surprised because something seems almost impossible.
Ejemplos
- I could scarcely believe my eyes when I saw the price.
- She could scarcely believe her luck when she won the prize.
scarcely any
1/skˈɛɹsli ˈɛni/
fixed phrase
almost none; hardly any
Almost no amount or number of something.
Ejemplos
- There is scarcely any milk left in the fridge.
- Scarcely any students attended the lecture.
scarcely had...when
1/skˈɛɹsli hˈædwˈɛn/
fixed phrase
one event follows another instantly
Used to say that one thing happened right before another thing happened.
Ejemplos
- Scarcely had I stepped outside when it started to snow.
- Scarcely had they arrived when the meeting began.