Apenaŭ mi surprovis la veston, la tajloro vidis la lozan orlon.

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Breakdown of Apenaŭ mi surprovis la veston, la tajloro vidis la lozan orlon.

• la: the
• vidi: to see
• vesto: the clothes

Questions & Answers about Apenaŭ mi surprovis la veston, la tajloro vidis la lozan orlon.

What does apenaŭ mean in this sentence?

Apenaŭ means hardly, barely, or scarcely.

In this sentence, it introduces the idea that one thing happened almost immediately after another:

• Apenaŭ mi surprovis la veston, la tajloro vidis la lozan orlon.
• Hardly had I tried on the garment when the tailor saw the loose hem.

So apenaŭ does not just mean with difficulty here. It mainly signals very little time passed before the next event.

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What does surprovis mean, and why is it one word?

Surprovis is the past-tense form of surprovi, which means to try on.

It is built from:

• provi = to try, test
• sur- = on

So surprovi literally suggests to try something on oneself.

This is a normal feature of Esperanto: prefixes are often attached directly to the root to make a new verb. So instead of using a separate preposition as English does in try on, Esperanto often makes a single verb.

Here:

• mi surprovis = I tried on

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Why is la veston marked with -n?