scarcely
gb/skˈɛɹsli/ us/skˈɛɹsli/
B2
Kiingereza
~ 900
alig, alighogy
B2
1
alig
A2
Muundo wa matumizi:
scarcely [verb]
I could scarcely hear what she was saying over the noise.
A zaj miatt alig hallottam, mit mond.
There was scarcely enough food for everyone at the party.
Alig volt elég étel mindenkinek a partin.
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.
Mifano kwa wanafunzi
I can scarcely see the road in this fog.
Alig látom az utat ebben a ködben.
We have scarcely any milk left.
Alig maradt tejünk.
She could scarcely move after the long run.
He had scarcely closed the door when someone knocked again.
Kosa la kawaida:
Learners sometimes confuse 'scarcely' with 'rarely'. 'Scarcely' means 'almost not', while 'rarely' means 'not often'.
Maana
almost not; barely
Miunganiko ya maneno
scarcely believe
|scarcely enough
|scarcely visible
|could scarcely
|scarcely had
Visawe
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.)
Vinyume
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.)
Mada
daily life
|time
|degree
|core_vocabulary
Ufafanuzi
Used to say that something happens only a little or almost not at all.
Used to say that something happens only just, or is almost not the case.
B2
2
alighogy
B2
Muundo wa matumizi:
scarcely [past perfect verb] when [past tense verb]
I had scarcely sat down when the bell rang.
Alighogy leültem, megszólalt a csengő.
She had scarcely arrived before they started asking her questions.
Alighogy megérkezett, máris kérdéseket kezdtek feltenni neki.
We had scarcely begun to eat when the lights went out.
Mifano kwa wanafunzi
I had scarcely opened the book when my phone rang.
Alighogy kinyitottam a könyvet, megszólalt a telefonom.
She had scarcely finished her homework when her friend called.
Alighogy befejezte a házi feladatát, felhívta egy barátja.
They had scarcely started the game when it began to rain.
Kosa la kawaida:
Learners sometimes forget to use the past perfect in the first clause with this structure.
Maana
only just before
Miunganiko ya maneno
scarcely had...when
|scarcely was...before
Visawe
hardly (Very close in meaning and often interchangeable in this time-sequence sense.)
Vinyume
long before (Indicates a large amount of time passed before the second event.)
Mada
time
|sequence
|core_vocabulary
Ufafanuzi
Shows that something happened right before something else happened.
Used to emphasize that one event happened immediately before another.
Sarufi
Umbo la kamusi
scarcely
IPA
GB/skˈɛɹsli/
US/skˈɛɹsli/
Silabi na mkazo
scarcely (silabi 1)
Stress on 1st syllable (scarcely)
Maumbo ya neno
Noun
- Base: scarcely
- Plural: scarcelies
Familia ya neno
Semi
could scarcely believe
1/kˈʊd skˈɛɹsli bɪlˈiv/
fixed phrase
almost unable to believe something
To be very surprised because something seems almost impossible.
Mifano
- 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.
Mifano
- 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.
Mifano
- Scarcely had I stepped outside when it started to snow.
- Scarcely had they arrived when the meeting began.