What does appena in Italian mean?

What is the meaning of the word appena in Italian? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use appena in Italian.

The word appena in Italian means barely, scarcely, just barely, only, just, just, just now, as soon as, newly born, as soon as possible, as soon as possible, just enough, have just had a birthday, as soon as, be hardly breathing. To learn more, please see the details below.

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Meaning of the word appena

barely, scarcely, just barely

avverbio (a malapena, a stento)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")
Siamo arrivati da appena due ore e già stai litigando con tua madre.
We've been here barely two hours and you're already arguing with your mother.

only, just

avverbio (solo, soltanto)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")
Dopo tutto quello che ha mangiato ha messo su appena un chilo?
Has she only put on a kilo despite everything she ate?

just, just now

avverbio (da poco, or ora)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")
Siamo appena partiti e già chiedi quando arriveremo?
We've just left and you're already asking when we're going to get there.

as soon as

congiunzione (subito dopo che)

(conjunction: Connects words, clauses, and sentences--for example, "and," "but," "because," "in order that.")
Non appena avrò finito i compiti andrò giù a giocare.
I'll go play outside as soon as I'm finished with my homework.

newly born

as soon as possible

locuzione avverbiale (quanto prima)

as soon as possible

(appena possibile)

Chiamami appena ne hai la possibilità.
Call me as soon as possible.

just enough

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")

have just had a birthday

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")

as soon as

congiunzione (quando, nel momento in cui)

be hardly breathing

verbo intransitivo

(intransitive verb: Verb not taking a direct object--for example, "She jokes." "He has arrived.")

Let's learn Italian

So now that you know more about the meaning of appena in Italian, you can learn how to use them through selected examples and how to read them. And remember to learn the related words that we suggest. Our website is constantly updating with new words and new examples so you can look up the meanings of other words you don't know in Italian.

Do you know about Italian

Italian (italiano) is a Romance language and is spoken by about 70 million people, most of whom live in Italy. Italian uses the Latin alphabet. The letters J, K, W, X and Y do not exist in the standard Italian alphabet, but they still appear in loanwords from Italian. Italian is the second most widely spoken in the European Union with 67 million speakers (15% of the EU population) and it is spoken as a second language by 13.4 million EU citizens (3%). Italian is the principal working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy. An important event that helped to the spread of Italian was Napoleon's conquest and occupation of Italy in the early 19th century. This conquest spurred the unification of Italy several decades later and pushed the language of the Italian language. Italian became a language used not only among secretaries, aristocrats and the Italian courts, but also by the bourgeoisie.