แทบจะไม่

Hardly

Level 3

แทบจะไม่ expresses hardly or barely in the displayed speaking, presence, and belief examples. The last example uses แทบไม่มี for having hardly any time to sleep.

How It Works

1. Read the Complete Statement
เขาแทบจะไม่พูดอะไรเลย concerns hardly saying anything; ที่นี่แทบจะไม่มีคนเลย concerns hardly anyone being here; ฉันแทบจะไม่เชื่อสายตาตัวเอง expresses disbelief. These contexts concern different quantities or degrees, not a measured universal frequency.

2. Displayed Order and Forms
In these examples แทบจะไม่ precedes พูด, มี, or เชื่อ. เขายุ่งมากจนแทบไม่มีเวลานอน uses แทบไม่มี without จะ in a clause describing the extent of his busyness. Compare these complete forms without claiming that every omission has identical meaning or belongs only to casual speech.

3. Emphasis and Comparisons
The first two examples end in เลย, rendered at all within the negative expression. Compare this เลย use within each whole example, without a frequency or rhythm rule. Compare แทบจะเสร็จแล้ว in the almost-finished exercise with แทบจะไม่เสร็จแล้ว, which includes negation and needs its own context. Linked expressions such as ไม่ค่อย and เกือบ should be read in complete examples rather than assigned a fixed strength or interchangeable meaning.

Examples (4)

  1. เขาแทบจะไม่พูดอะไรเลย

    He hardly said anything at all.

    Word by Word: he | hardly | speak | anything | at all

    The statement concerns hardly saying anything, with เลย reinforcing the negative expression. The English past tense is a selected context; จะ here does not require a future translation.

  2. ที่นี่แทบจะไม่มีคนเลย

    There is hardly anyone here.

    Word by Word: here | hardly | have | people | at all

    The speaker presents hardly anyone as being here. ที่นี่ means here in this expression; the sentence does not specify an exact count or prove that at least one person is present.

  3. ฉันแทบจะไม่เชื่อสายตาตัวเอง

    I could hardly believe my own eyes.

    Word by Word: I | hardly | believe | my own eyes

    The complete expression describes the speaker's disbelief. สายตาตัวเอง concerns their own eyes or eyesight; do not infer a future event or a fixed frequency from จะ here.

  4. เขายุ่งมากจนแทบไม่มีเวลานอน

    He is so busy that he hardly has time to sleep.

    Word by Word: he | busy | very | to the point that | hardly | have | time | sleep

    จน introduces the described extent or result: his busyness leaves hardly any time to sleep. This native example has แทบไม่มี without จะ; it does not establish a general register or rhythm rule.

Common Mistakes

  • Changing the order of the requested hardly-speaking phrase.

    เขาไม่แทบจะพูด
    เขาแทบจะไม่พูด

    This exercise requests เขาแทบจะไม่พูด, with แทบจะ followed by ไม่ before พูด. เขาไม่แทบจะพูด does not reproduce this requested construction; the task does not establish a universal rule for every context containing these words.

  • Adding negation to the requested almost-finished statement.

    ฉันแทบจะไม่เสร็จแล้ว
    ฉันแทบจะเสร็จแล้ว

    This exercise requests ฉันแทบจะเสร็จแล้ว for the intended almost-finished statement. ฉันแทบจะไม่เสร็จแล้ว includes ไม่ and requires a different negative reading and context; it is not declared meaningless or universally ungrammatical.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

แทบจะไม่Level 3Hardly

Learn This First

To understand 'แทบจะไม่' (hardly), you first need to be comfortable with basic negation using 'ไม่'. You also need to understand how 'จะ' functions not just as a future marker, but as a way to express probability or potentiality within a phrase.

Words in This Pattern

แทบจะไม่