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# hardly

«hardly» in Mova's school dictionary: **almost not, or only just** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adverb (hardly)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Hardly means almost not, or only just. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hardly/#m1)

2) Hardly ever means almost never. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hardly/#m2)

3) Hardly can mean it is not reasonable: «You can hardly blame him.» [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hardly/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In everyday talk «I could hardly see» means I almost could not see. In reading lessons pupils notice that «hardly» makes a sentence nearly negative. In maths «hardly any left» means very few left. Phrases: hardly any, hardly ever, hardly at all, could hardly, hardly anyone.

### examples

- I could hardly see in the fog. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hardly/#x1)
- We hardly ever go to the cinema. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hardly/#x2)
- There is hardly any milk left. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hardly/#x3)
- She had hardly started when the bell rang. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hardly/#x4)
- He hardly ate anything. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hardly/#x5)
- Hardly anyone came to the match. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hardly/#x6)
- I can hardly believe it! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hardly/#x7)
- He hardly knew himself, so changed was he. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hardly/#x8)

### note

Trap: «hardly» does NOT mean «in a hard way». «He works hard» (a lot); «he hardly works» (almost not at all). «Hardly» is already almost negative, so don't add «not»: say «I can hardly see», not «I can't hardly see». In a problem, «hardly any» means a very small number, close to zero.

### In the corpora

- [Kangaroos hop with springy tendons that store energy like a pogo stick, so hopping fast costs them hardly more energy than hopping slowly.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/103-the-australian-walkabout-kangaroos-emus-wallabies-dingoes/5/)
- [Honey hardly ever goes off, because it is so sugary and dry that germs cannot grow in it.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/218-bees-and-wasps-in-the-garden/16/)
- [Some bees in warm countries can hardly sting at all and bite instead.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/305-bees-beyond-the-hive-bumblebees-solitary-bees-carpenter-bees-and-stingless-bees/6/)
- [Fresh sweat hardly smells; it is the tiny bacteria that eat it that make the pong.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/356-nails-sweat-and-smells-smelly-feet-armpits-and-bad-breath/2/)
- [Storks hardly have a voice; they greet each other by throwing their heads back and clattering their bills like a wooden toy.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/375-white-storks-ukraine-s-favourite-birds-and-their-journey-to-africa/3/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «hardly» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hardly/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.