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- When a story is told in the past tense, the adverbials hardly, scarcely, barely and no sooner are often used to emphasise that one event quickly followed another. The verb describing the earlier event is usually in the past perfect tense.
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Scarcely, hardly, barely (in respect of extent, amount, degree, etc.). scarcely 1297– Originally used to express a restrictive qualification, = ‘barely’, ‘only just’; hence also, = ‘barely, or not quite’, ‘only just, if at all’.
Hardly and scarcely can mean ‘almost not at all’ or ‘only just’. Hardly is much more common than scarcely, and scarcely is more formal: Jen was so tired. She could scarcely keep her eyes open. I hardly know them. I’ve only met them once.
used to say that something happened immediately after something else happened: I had scarcely sat down/Scarcely had I sat down to eat when the phone rang. Synonyms. barely. hardly. Fewer examples. I scarcely registered the fact that he was there. I scarcely heard him laugh all night. The city centre has scarcely changed in over a century.
All you need to know about "SCARCELY" in one place: definitions, pronunciations, synonyms, grammar insights, collocations, examples, and translations.
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. She barely sees her parents these days. See scarcely in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
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. Yesterday, however, his views seemed scarcely relevant. It was scarcely in their interest to let too many people know.
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Scarcely means just before, hardly, or “almost not.” If you had scarcely made it to bed when the sun started to rise, you are probably pretty tired by now.
