advalmost not
My parents divorced when I was six, and I hardly knew my father. The children were so excited they could hardly speak. I can hardly believe it. Hardly anyone (=almost no one) writes to me these days. Dad ate hardly anything (=almost nothing) . There was hardly any (=very little) traffic. She lives in Spain, so we hardly ever (=almost never) see her.hardly a day/week/month etc goes by without/when(=used to say that something happens almost every day, week etc)
Hardly a month goes by without another factory closing down.see usage noterarelyused to mean 'not', when you are suggesting that the person you are speaking to will agree with you
It's hardly surprising that she won't answer his calls after the way he's treated her. You can hardly blame Tom for not waiting. My boss could hardly be described as handsome.hardly the time/place/person etc(=a very unsuitable time, place, person)
This is hardly the place to discuss the matter.used to say that something has only just happened
The serious building work has hardly begun.hardly ... when/before She had hardly sat down when the phone rang.
GRAMMARDo not use
hardly with a negative word :
I can hardly believe he said that (NOT I can't hardly believe he said that). |
There's hardly any milk left (NOT There's hardly no milk left).Use
hardly just before the main verb :
He could hardly speak (NOT He hardly could speak).Do not use
hardly at the beginning of a sentence, except in very formal writing :
I had hardly got in the house when the phone rang is the usual way to say this. It is possible to say |
Hardly had I got in the house when the phone rang but this is very formal
!! Do not use
hardly as the adverb of
hard . The adverb of
hard is
hard :
I tried hard to remember (NOT I tried hardly to remember). |
Students have to study very hard (NOT Students have to study very hardly).