hardly
/ˈhɑːdli/adverb
उच्चारण हार्ड्ली
शायद ही, मुश्किल से
Basic wordPYP · asked 4 times
Asked in previous papers
as antonym
- 1
almost no; almost not; almost none
शायद ही, मुश्किल से
- I could hardly hear him.
- There is hardly any time left.
- There was hardly any water in the well.
+ 4 more examples
- I hardly know him, so I can't ask for a favour.
- She could hardly wait to open the gift.
- We had hardly reached the station when it started to rain.
- Hardly anybody came to the meeting.
Synonyms scarcely barely only just rarely seldom
Opposite easily fully often completely
§Structures (grammar patterns) 4
hardly + verb / adjective (almost not)
'Hardly' is a negative adverb meaning scarcely: it makes the sentence almost negative, so do not add 'not'.
'Hardly' नकारात्मक adverb है जिसका अर्थ मुश्किल से या लगभग नहीं है; इसलिए इसके साथ 'not' नहीं लगता।
- I can hardly hear you in this noise.
- She hardly ever misses a class.
hardly any / ever / anybody / anything
Use 'hardly' with any-words and 'ever' to mean almost none, almost never.
लगभग नहीं के अर्थ में 'hardly' के साथ any-words और 'ever' आते हैं।
- There is hardly any water in the well.
- Hardly anyone came to the meeting.
Hardly had + subject + past participle ... when / before
At the start of a sentence, 'hardly' needs inversion of had and the subject, and the second event follows with 'when'.
वाक्य के आरंभ में 'hardly' के बाद had और subject का inversion होता है, और दूसरी घटना 'when' से जुड़ती है।
- Hardly had the match begun when it started raining.
hardly vs. hard (adverb)
'Hard' means with effort, as in 'work hard'. 'Hardly' never means with effort; it means almost not.
'Hard' का अर्थ मेहनत से है, जैसे 'work hard'। 'Hardly' का अर्थ कभी मेहनत से नहीं होता; वह 'लगभग नहीं' बताता है।
- Radhika studied hard, but her brother hardly studied.
+Collocations 4
hardly + verb
knownoticebelievespeakrecognisesleep
- I could hardly believe my result.
hardly + any / ever
everanyanyoneanythinganywhere
- Hardly anyone carries cash these days.
can hardly + verb
waitbreatheseewalkstand
- I can hardly wait for the results.
hardly + surprising
surprisingfairpossiblenecessarynew
- It is hardly surprising that the fare went up.
“More examples 5
- The village is so remote that hardly any bus goes there.
गाँव इतना दूरस्थ है कि वहाँ शायद ही कोई बस जाती है।
- Hardly had I switched on the television when the power failed.
मैंने टेलीविज़न चालू ही किया था कि बिजली चली गई।
- He hardly eats anything during the fast.
व्रत के दौरान वह लगभग कुछ नहीं खाता।
- It is hardly a surprise that the toppers studied every day.
यह शायद ही आश्चर्य की बात है कि टॉपर्स ने प्रतिदिन पढ़ाई की।
- I was so tired that I could hardly keep my eyes open.
मैं इतना थका हुआ था कि मुश्किल से आँखें खुली रख पा रहा था।
!Common mistakes 3
✗ I don't hardly know him.
✓ I hardly know him.
'Hardly' is already negative; a double negative is wrong in standard English.
'Hardly' पहले से नकारात्मक है; standard English में double negative गलत है।
✗ Hardly he had left the house when it started raining.
✓ Hardly had he left the house when it started raining.
After sentence-initial 'hardly', the auxiliary comes before the subject.
वाक्य के आरंभ में 'hardly' के बाद auxiliary subject से पहले आती है।
✗ She studies hardly for the exam, so she always scores well.
✓ She studies hard for the exam, so she always scores well.
'Hardly' means almost not; with effort you need 'hard'. The meaning here is wrong.
'Hardly' का अर्थ लगभग नहीं है; मेहनत के अर्थ में 'hard' आता है।
≠Thesaurus: which synonym when
Hardly, scarcely and barely all mean almost not, but each has a slightly different shade.
Hardly, scarcely और barely तीनों का अर्थ लगभग नहीं है, पर हर एक में थोड़ा भिन्न भाव है।
Almost not at all; often expresses difficulty or surprise.
लगभग बिल्कुल नहीं; प्रायः कठिनाई या आश्चर्य दिखाता है।
- I could hardly breathe in the crowded bus.
Formal; used like hardly, especially in written English and in 'scarcely ... when'.
Formal; विशेषकर लिखित अंग्रेज़ी में और 'scarcely ... when' में hardly की तरह प्रयुक्त।
- Scarcely had the bell rung when the students ran out.
Only just; says that something happened, but with the smallest margin.
बस मुश्किल से; बताता है कि कोई बात हुई, पर बहुत कम अंतर से।
- She barely passed the physics paper.
≈Synonyms and antonyms
§Grammar and usage
Hardly is negative in meaning, so do not use another negative with it ('I could hardly see', not 'I couldn't hardly see'); use any, not no ('hardly any money').
यह बहुत पूछा जाता है: hardly अर्थ में नकारात्मक है, इसलिए इसके साथ दूसरा नकारात्मक न लगाएँ ('I could hardly see', 'I couldn't hardly see' नहीं); no के बजाय any लगाएँ ('hardly any money')।
Inversion: when hardly begins a sentence, the auxiliary comes before the subject, and it is followed by when or before, not than ('Hardly had I reached when it rained'; but 'No sooner had I reached than it rained').
Inversion: जब hardly वाक्य शुरू करे तो auxiliary subject से पहले आता है, और उसके बाद when या before आता है, than नहीं ('Hardly had I reached when it rained'; पर 'No sooner had I reached than it rained')।
Trap: hardly does not mean 'in a hard way'; the adverb of hard is hard ('work hard').
Trap: hardly का अर्थ 'कठोरता से' नहीं; hard का adverb hard है ('work hard')।