/aˈpenas/
Translation
hardly, barely; as soon as
Word origin
From a ('to') plus penas, the plural of pena ('difficulty, sorrow'), from Latin poena ('penalty, pain'), from Greek poine ('penalty'). The same root gives English penal and pain.
- Origin
- Latin
- Root
- poena
- English cognates
- penal, pain
Examples
creerlo.
I can hardly believe it.
.
She barely ate last night.
llegue, .
As soon as I arrive, I will call you.
cola.
There are barely three people waiting in the queue.
casarse.
They hardly knew each other when they decided to marry.
Used in
Grammar articles
(4)Spanish Adverbs of Place, Time and Degree (aquí, todavía, muy vs mucho)
Spanish Compound Tenses: the Future Perfect and Past Anterior (habré hablado, hube hablado)
Spanish Intensifiers and Downtoners: muy, -ísimo, super, un poco, más bien
Advanced Spanish Negation: ni, sino vs pero, tampoco, ni siquiera
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Go to my review queueThis word is part of lesson 18.