How to Say ‘We can barely hear each other.’ in French
On s'entend à peine.
ohn s ahn-tahn ah pen
[ohn s ahn-tahn ah pen]
💬 Usage Tip: French often uses [on] for "we" in everyday speech, so [On s'entend à peine] is more natural than a formal [Nous nous entendons à peine]. [À peine] means "hardly/barely" and often comes after the verb.
Phrase Breakdown
On s'entend
ohn s ahn-tahn
We can hear each other / we get along
In this context, it means voices are audible to each other; with people, it can also mean 'we get along'.
On s'entend bien ici.
We can hear each other well here.
Words in this phrase
On
[ohn]
we
Here “on” means we in everyday spoken French.
On s'entend à peine quand la musique est trop forte.
We can barely hear each other when the music is too loud.
s'
[s]
each other / ourselves
Reflexive part of the verb “s'entendre,” meaning to hear each other here.
Dans ce coin, s' entendre devient plus facile.
In this corner, hearing each other becomes easier.
entend
[ahn-tahn]
hear
From “entendre”; here it means hear each other.
On entend mieux au fond du bar.
We hear better at the back of the bar.
À peine
ah pen
Barely / hardly
Indicates something happens only with difficulty or in a very small amount.
Je parle à peine français.
I barely speak French.
Words in this phrase
à
[ah]
barely / hardly
Part of the fixed expression “à peine,” meaning barely.
Avec tout ce bruit, on parle à peine.
With all this noise, we can barely talk.
peine
[pen]
barely
Used with “à” to form “à peine,” meaning hardly or barely.
Ici, on s'entend à peine près des enceintes.
Here, we can barely hear each other near the speakers.
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