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Hardly ever, rarely, scarcely, seldom - English Grammar Today - a reference to written and spoken English grammar and usage - Cambridge Dictionary
- Polski
Hardly ever, rarely, scarcely, seldom - English Grammar...
- English (US)
Hardly ever, rarely, scarcely, seldom - English Grammar...
- English Grammar Today
Hardly ever, rarely, scarcely, seldom — English Grammar...
- Polski
When a story is told in the past tense, the adverbials hardly, scarcely, barely and no sooner are often used to emphasise that one event quickly followed another. The verb describing the earlier event is usually in the past perfect tense. If hardly, scarcely, barely and no sooner are in the initial position, the subject and auxiliary are inverted:
We can use scarcely instead of hardly. The meaning is the same. I'd (I had) scarcely / hardly finished cleaning up the mess when / before my son dropped cake on the floor. In more formal speech and in literature we sometimes use inversion after hardly and scarcely.
Mar 26, 2016 · Hardly ever and scarcely are synonymous, and unambiguously mean long time intervals between visits. Barely could lead to a different interpretation — one of degree, rather than frequency: Her macular degeneration has gotten so bad, she barely recognizes her parents' faces these days.
- How to Use Hardly, Scarcely, Barely in English
- Hardly
- Scarcely
- Barely
In today’s English lesson for B2 upper-intermediate and C1 Advanced learners in how to use the words Hardly, Scarcely, Barelyin English. The three words have very similar meanings and we can use them almost interchangeably. So let’s look at how we use them.
Hardly means the same as almost not, only just and certainly not. For example, if you say ‘We hardly ever go to the cinema these days’ it means that we almost nevergo to the cinema. If you say ‘What’s wrong with your hand? You can hardly hold your fork’ you mean that the other person can only justhold his or her fork in their hand. Most likely beca...
Scarcely also means almost not, only just and certainly not. Look at some examples of how we use it: 1. She was scarcelyable to walk after she had her baby. 2. We had scarcelyarrived at the cinema when the film started. 3. Sacking the coach was scarcelythe best decision to take. As you can see, the examples above are very similar to the examples wi...
Barely means almost not, or only just. We don’t use it to mean certainly not. Here are some examples: 1. My salary is barelyenough to make ends meet. 2. He spoke in such a low voice that I could barelyhear what he was saying. 3. We had barelyleft home when the car broke down. So that’s how we use Hardly, Scarcely, Barely in English. Don’t forget th...
Oct 23, 2023 · The smell was so bad I could scarcely bear it. The woman was scarcely able to walk. If you use an auxiliary verb or modal with scarcely, put the auxiliary verb or modal first. Say, for example, `I could scarcely stand’. I can scarcely remember what we ate. Scarcely is sometimes used to emphasize that one thing happened immediately after ...
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We can use them to refer to things that almost never happen, or do not happen very often. They have a negative meaning. We use them without not. Rarely, scarcely and seldom are more common in writing than in speaking: He hardly ever smiles. Providing fresh trout for dinner was rarely a problem. [a trout is a type of fish] She scarcely saw her ...
