How to say "barely" in Japanese
Choosing the right word
- adverbCovers 'barely' in the sense of just managing to do or achieve something with difficulty, often against the odds. Typical in writing about narrowly passing, surviving, or completing something.
- 危うくあやうくadverbCovers 'barely' when something bad almost happened but was just avoided, as in 'barely escaped'. It carries a sense of danger or near-miss rather than effortful success.
- adverb, suru verbMatches 'only just' among its senses: managing somehow, one way or another, without implying a close call or danger. Use when the outcome was achieved by some means despite difficulty.
- adverbFor 'barely' meaning 'hardly' or 'scarcely', as in 'there was barely any food left'. This is really a quantity or degree word, not one for narrowly achieving something.
- adverbCovers 'barely' as 'just' or 'by the skin of one's teeth' after effort or waiting, as in 'finally barely made it'. It emphasizes relief that something was achieved at the last possible point.娘はやっと１５歳です。↗My daughter is barely fifteen.
Use 「かろうじて」, 「やっと」, or 「危うく」 for narrowly avoiding failure or danger, 「どうにか」 for managing somehow, and 「ほとんど」 when 'barely' means 'hardly/scarcely'.
Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only
Japanese equivalents
- かろうじてbarely
- 危うくあやうくbarely
- どうにかin some way or other
- かつかつbarely
- 辛辛からがらbarely
- 辛くもからくもbarely
- ほのfaintly
- すんでのところでalmost
- ほとんどhardly
- やっとbarely
- ようやくbarely
- すれすれbarely
- どうやらsomehow or other
- ようやっとbarely
- やっとこさbarely
- かすかすbarely
- ようようbarely
- きゅうきゅうbarely (managing)
- 身をもってみをもってbarely (e.g. escape)
- わずかにbarely
- どれほど(not) many
- 薄うすscarce
- いくらも(not) much
See also
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