0
Taka Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

barely

0 01i01font00We human beings begin to speak when we are about one year old. And when we become four or five years old, we become able to express ourselves 02font01font00somehow02font01font00.02font00 01font00As I've become a parent of a child and now watch him growing, I've come to think this is wonderful.02br
02br
02font02i01font00Now, a student of mine used 'barely' instead of 'somehow' as:02br
02br
02font01i01font00We human beings begin to speak when we are about one year old. And when we become four or five years old, we become able to 01font00barely 02font00express ourselves02font01font00. As I've become a parent of a child and now watch him growing, I've come to think this is wonderful.02br
02br
02font02i01font00Do you native speakes think that her composition has the same 'air' as the original with her 'barely'?02br
02font00 0-
  

Top answer

0 No. 02br 02br 01i 01font 00we become able to express ourselves 02font 01font 00somehow02font 02br 02i 00means we can express ourselves in one manner or another, in some way02br 02br 01i 01font 00we become able to 01font 00barely 02font 00express ourselves02br 02font 02i 00means we have a very limited/incipient capability in that sense01i 01font 02br 02font 02i 0-

— Marius Hancu

  • 0 No.
  • 02br 02br 01i 01font 00we become able to express ourselves 02font 01font 00somehow02font 02br 02i 00means we can express ourselves in one manner or another, in some way02br 02br 01i 01font 00we become able to 01font 00barely 02font 00express ourselves02br 02font 02i 00means we have a very limited/incipient capability in that sense01i 01font 02br 02font 02i 0-
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

9 Answers
0
0 No. 02br
02br
01i01font00we become able to express ourselves 02font01font00somehow02font02br
02i00means we can express ourselves in one manner or another, in some way02br
02br
01i01font00we become able to 01font
0
0
0No, it's not at all the same! At four or five, many children are incredibly articulate. They do not struggle to communicate, so to say that they "barely" express themselves is not accurate.0-
0
0
0 Glad my intuiton was right; I didn't think it was the same either.02br
02br
00Thank you both!02br
02br
00(So GG, your interpretaion of 'barely' is the same as MM, something 'limited'?)0-
0
0
0 I mentioned limit, because02br
00 something which exists/performs/etc barely, it exists/performs/etc 01b00at the very limit of02b00 existing/performing, by the narrowest of margins: 01b02br
00 --------02br
00 barely02b02br
02br
00 Function: 01i00adverb02i02br
00
0
0
0 01blockquote
01cite10Marius Hancu12cite12br
10 My English-Japanese dictionary shows for 11b10barely12b10: 11b10mukidashi ni, wazukani, karojite15012b12br
12blockquote
10What a surprise! You have an English-Japanese dictionary. Are you Japanese? Or are you just intereste
0
0
0I lived two years in Tokyo (Kokubunji), some time ago. I've lost the language, unfortunately, lack of practice. There are many Japanese in Montreal05002br
02br
00 "Just a touch" is also similar to "barely." 010id1
0
0
0 So you used to speak Japanese. Great!02br
02br
00Anyway, thank you, MH (not MM. Sorry, I was wrong)!0-
0
0
0 Another good synonym for "barely": "only just." 0-
0
0
0 Hi.02br
02br
00From the perspective of a non-native speaker who's used to translate a lot (between German and English), I have a few things to add:02br
02br
00While "somehow" and "barely" are not equivalents, neither semantic nor pragmatic, there are situations where cultural differences might make them look similar. For example:02br
02br
0

Related Questions