What does à peine in French mean?
What is the meaning of the word à peine in French? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use à peine in French.
The word à peine in French means hardly, barely, scarcely, Let's call it a day, painstakingly, no sooner had ... than, had only just ... when, had barely ... when, barely more, barely out of the womb, still wet behind the ears, thinly veiled, thinly disguised, have difficulty doing , have trouble doing, hardly be able to believe that, scarcely be able to believe that, I can hardly believe it! I can scarcely believe it!, hardly, barely, struggle, be a sorry sight. To learn more, please see the details below.
Meaning of the word à peine
hardly, barely, scarcelylocution adverbiale (difficilement, tout juste) (adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.") Je rentre à peine dans ce pull. I can hardly fit into this jumper. |
Let's call it a day(ça suffit pour aujourd'hui) (informal) (expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.") Nous en avons assez fait pour aujourd'hui, à chaque jour suffit sa peine ! |
painstakinglylocution adverbiale (avec difficulté) (adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.") Il parvient à grand-peine à se déplacer. |
no sooner had ... than, had only just ... when, had barely ... whenlocution conjonction (aussitôt que ...) (expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.") À peine eut-il franchi le pas de la porte que le téléphone sonna. |
barely morelocution adverbiale (pas beaucoup plus) (adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.") Ce professeur est à peine plus âgé que ses élèves. That teacher is barely any older than his pupils. |
barely out of the womblocution adverbiale (tout juste né) (expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.") À peine sorti du ventre de sa mère, le bébé se mit à pleurer. |
still wet behind the earslocution adverbiale (figuré (encore jeune) (figurative) (expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.") Il ne peut pas être déjà papa : il est à peine sorti du ventre de sa mère ! |
thinly veiled, thinly disguisedlocution adjectivale (très peu dissimulé) (adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.") Le reproche était à peine voilé, ce qui plongea tout le monde dans l'embarras. |
have difficulty doing , have trouble doinglocution verbale (arriver difficilement à) (verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.") J'ai de la peine à comprendre son attitude en ce moment. |
hardly be able to believe that, scarcely be able to believe thatlocution verbale (croire difficilement que) I can hardly believe he actually left his wife. |
I can hardly believe it! I can scarcely believe it!(C'est insensé !) (amazement) (expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.") Cet apnéiste vient de battre le record de profondeur, c'est à peine croyable ! |
hardly, barely(c'est tout juste si) (adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.") Je ne comprends pas comment il peut dire cela, c'est à peine si nous nous sommes parlés. I don't understand how he can say that; we hardly spoke to each other. |
strugglelocution verbale (rencontrer des difficultés) (intransitive verb: Verb not taking a direct object--for example, "She jokes." "He has arrived.") Jackson is really struggling at the back, I don't know whether he will finish the race. |
be a sorry sightlocution verbale (inspirer de la pitié) (verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.") |
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