Word
Je n'aperçois guère la typographie de cette édition.
Meaning
I can barely see the typography of this edition.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Je n'aperçois guère la typographie de cette édition.
je
I
ne
not (used before the verb)
ce
this (before a noun)
de
of / from / any (in negative sentences) / about (concerning)
Questions & Answers about Je n'aperçois guère la typographie de cette édition.
How does ne... guère work here, and is it used in everyday spoken French?
Why use apercevoir instead of voir in this sentence?
While voir is the general word for to see, apercevoir means to catch sight of, to glimpse, or to make out. Combined with guère, it emphasizes the physical difficulty of making out the faint or tiny print of this specific edition.
Why does aperçois have a cedilla (ç) here?
The cedilla is required to keep the soft s sound of the infinitive apercevoir. In French, the letter c before an o makes a hard k sound. Adding the cedilla changes it back to a soft s sound before the vowels a, o, or u.