à peine

See also: apeine

French

Etymology

From Latin ad paene. Compare Catalan a penes, Italian appena, Portuguese and Spanish apenas. It is etymologically different from peine.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /a pɛn/
  • Audio(file)

Adverb

à peine

  1. barely, scarcely, hardly
    Il y a à peine trente personnes au concert ce soir.
    There are barely thirty people at this evening’s concert.
    À peine avait-il achevé ces paroles qu'une voiture s'arrêta devant la porte.
    Scarcely had he finished his words, when a car pulled up at the door.
    Nous avons à peine fait connaissance.
    We've only just met.

See also
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.