scarcely
adv. 几乎不,简直不; 刚刚,才; 决不; (刚)一…就
You use scarcely to emphasize that something is only just true or only just the case.
He could scarcely breathe...
他几乎喘不过气来。
I scarcely knew him...
我几乎不认识他。
You can use scarcely to say that something is not true or is not the case, in a humorous or critical way.
It can scarcely be coincidence...
它不太可能是巧合。
Yesterday, however, his views seemed scarcely relevant...
然而,昨天他的观点似乎毫无关联。
If you say scarcely had one thing happened when something else happened, you mean that the first event was followed immediately by the second.
Scarcely had they left before soldiers arrived armed with rifles...
他们刚离开,扛着步枪的士兵们就到了。
Bruce had scarcely shaken our hands when the phone rang.
布鲁斯刚和我们握了握手,电话就响了。
1. by a small margin;
2. almost not;
hardly, scarcely, barely
这些副词均含"几乎不"之意。
I could scarcely recognize him.
我简直认不出他来了.
He found the dullness of his work scarcely bearable.
他觉得他的工作枯燥乏味,简直无法忍受.
You can scarcely expect me to believe that.
别以为我相信那件事.
She always bears her comrades in mind ; scarcely does she ever think of herself.
她心里装着同志们,惟独没有她自己.
She scarcely earns enough money to make ends meet.
她几乎挣不到足够的钱以维持开支.