SKILL9: LISTEN FOR ''ALMOST NEGATIVE'' EXPRESSIONS

There are several “almost negative” expressions in English — words like rarely or seldom. These words have meanings of “almost not,” “almost none,” or “almost never.” They don’t mean “completely not.” For example, if someone says:

I barely finished the test in time.

It means that he did finish in time, but with not much time left over. Here are some almost negative expressions:

Expressions	Meaning	Examples
hardly, barely, scarcely, only	almost none	There’s hardly any food left. We have only a little time.
rarely, seldom, only	almost never	He rarely drives to work. I’ve only been there once.

Here’s an example of a conversation with an almost negative expression:

(Woman) Were you able to pay the electric bill?

(Man) I had barely enough money.

(Question) What does the man imply?

In your test book, you read:

(A) He had plenty of money for the bill.

(B) He did not have enough money for the bill.

(C) He paid the bill but has no money left.

(D) He was unable to pay the bill.

The man’s answer says he had barely enough money, so we know that he could pay the bill, but he had no money or only a tiny bit of money left afterward. Therefore, (C) is the best answer.

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