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Linguā Anglicā, saepe cum multīs adverbīs atque adiectīvīs, plūrima quōrum significātiōnēs absolūtās habent (exempla sunt «always» vel «everything» vel «nothing» vel «never», et cētera), adverbō «almost» ūtimur ut significēmus adverbum vel adiectīvum nōn ferre subtīlem, sed significātiōnem quae propē principālem est. Exempla:

  • «almost always»
  • «almost everything»
  • «almost nothing»
  • «almost never»

Ūtāmurne linguā Latīnā verbō ferē eōdem modō (exempla ferē nihil vel ferē semper, et cētera) ut linguā Anglicā, aut aliō?

Sī male Latīnē scrīpsī, apologiās vōbīs agō.

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    FWIW, L&S lists a pair of examples of the word paene modifying adjectives as you ask: totidem paene, cuncta paene. Both in Cicero.
    – Rafael
    Sep 6, 2018 at 17:05
  • 2
    A quick peek in OLD does indeed show examples of fer(m)e used with semper, nihil, numquam, and omnia. It not infrequently follows the word that it qualifies.
    – cnread
    Sep 6, 2018 at 19:38
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    Alternatively, Isidore gives two examples of the comparative for English '-ish.' One is Elder Senior which he says is somebody less old than Senex. Adv. saepiuscule is given as fairly often.
    – Hugh
    Sep 7, 2018 at 1:07

1 Answer 1

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Ita est, saltem in Latina post-mediaevali, ubi saepe hoc verbum "fere" in sensu indicato invenitur. Verum quoque est quod cnread dixit, hoc verbum scil. frequenter (etsi non semper) non ante, sed post verbum quod modificat poni. Alia verba idem fere significantia sunt "paene" ("paene dixi" "I almost said"), "prope" ("prope nihil" "nearly nothing"), et "propemodo" ("propemodo nemo" "hardly anybody").

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