kaum

adv · /kaʊ̯m/ ·

Etymology

From Middle High German kūme, from Old High German kūmo, from Proto-Germanic *kūmaz, *kūmijaz (“weak, pitiful, frail”), from Proto-Indo-European *gewH- (“to call, cry”). Cognate with English comely and archaic Dutch kuim (“barely”).

Translation

barely, hardly (qualifying verbs or adjectives)

Ich kann das kaum lesen.

I can barely read this.

Die Handschrift ist kaum lesbar.

The handwriting is barely legible.
barely any, almost no (qualifying amounts)

Wir haben kaum noch Geld.

We barely have any money left.
difficult, nearly impossible

Das ist kaum zu glauben.

That's difficult to believe.
as soon as, immediately after

Kaum bin ich mit einer Sache fertig, da habe schon ich das nächste Problem am Hals.

As soon as I finish dealing with one thing, I'll get stuck with the next problem.