Amper

scarcely, barely, only just Iconspeaker_3
Amper
[adverb]
[am-per]

The word "amper" is an alternative for the less intuitive use of "bijna niet/nooit/geen", "nog/maar net" or even "nog maar net" 🙂

Examples:
– "Hij was amper binnen of hij begon al te zeuren." 
("He had barely entered (the room) before he started whining." An alternative that you may hear would be "Hij was nog maar net binnen of hij begon al te zeuren.")

– "Dit rapport is amper twee A4’tjes; sorry, maar dit kan ik niet serieus nemen." 
("This report is scarcely two pages (long); I’m sorry, but I can’t take this seriously." In the Netherlands it is common to refer to the standard A4 paper size (if applicable of course). Naturally, we use the diminutive 😉 )

– "Ik heb haar amper gesproken toen ze op vakantie was." 
("I have hardly spoken to her while she was on holiday.")

– "Sommige mensen hebben amper geld om eten te kopen." 
("Some people have only just enough money to buy food.")

– "Hij had amper leren autorijden toen hij van zijn ouders een spiksplinternieuwe auto kreeg." 
("He had scarcely learned how to drive (a car) when his parents bought him a brand-new car." If ‘spiksplinternieuw’ makes you spit on people, you can also say ‘gloednieuw’ (although the latter might hurt your throat 🙂 .)

Related words:
– Zelden: seldom, rarely [adverb].
– Weinig: few, little [adverb/adjective].

2 thoughts on “Amper

  1. Since you asked… nope, no sign of an email. They were regular through November, started drying up in December (five received) and evaporated completely since mid-January (three received, 11th, 12th and 13th). Nothing since.

Comments are closed.