scarce·ly
adverb/ˈskeəsli/
/ˈskersli/
- only just; almost not
勉强；刚；几乎不；简直不 - I can scarcely believe it.
我几乎不敢相信。 - We scarcely ever meet.
我们难得见一面。 - Scarcely a week goes by without some new scandal in the papers.
报上几乎周周都会登出新的丑闻。 - There was scarcely a tree left standing after the storm.
暴风雨过后，几乎没有一棵树还矗立着。
- I can scarcely believe it.
- used to say that something happens immediately after something else happens
（表示接连发生）刚一…就 - He had scarcely put the phone down when the doorbell rang.
他刚放下电话，门铃就响了起来。 - Scarcely had the game started when it began to rain.
比赛才开始就下起雨来了。
- He had scarcely put the phone down when the doorbell rang.
- used to suggest that something is not at all reasonable or likely
实在不应该；根本不可能 - It was scarcely an occasion for laughter.
笑得实在不是时候。 - She could scarcely complain, could she?
她压根儿没什么好抱怨的，是不是？ - You can scarcely blame Annie.
你几乎不能责怪安妮。 - It is scarcely surprising that the reforms have provoked such widespread discontent.
改革引发如此广泛的不满也就不足为奇了。
Grammar Point hardly / scarcely / barely / no soonerhardly / scarcely / barely / no sooner- Hardly, scarcely and barely can all be used to say that something is only just true or possible. They are used with words like any and anyone, with adjectives and verbs, and are often placed between can, could, have, be, etc. and the main part of the verb:
- They have sold scarcely any copies of the book.
这书他们几乎没卖出几本。 - I barely recognized her.
我几乎认不出她了。 - His words were barely audible.
他的话勉强听得见。 - I can hardly believe it.
我几乎不敢相信。 - I hardly can believe it.
- They have sold scarcely any copies of the book.
- Hardly, scarcely and barely are negative words and should not be used with not or other negatives:
- I can’t hardly believe it.
- You can also use hardly, scarcely and barely to say that one thing happens immediately after another:
- We had hardly/scarcely/barely sat down at the table, when the doorbell rang.
我们刚在桌边坐下，门铃就响了。
- Hardly/Scarcely had we sat down at the table, when the doorbell rang.
我们刚在桌边坐下，门铃就响了。
- I scarcely had time to ring the bell before the door opened.
我刚一按门铃，门就开了。
- No sooner had we sat down at the table than the doorbell rang.
我们刚在桌边坐下，门铃就响了。
- We had hardly/scarcely/barely sat down at the table, when the doorbell rang.
- Hardly and scarcely can be used to mean ‘almost never’, but barely is not used in this way:
- She hardly (ever) sees her parents these days.
这些日子她难得见到她父母。 - She barely sees her parents these days.
- She hardly (ever) sees her parents these days.
- It was scarcely an occasion for laughter.