transcription, транскрипция: [ hɑ:(r)dli ]
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
You use hardly to modify a statement when you want to emphasize that it is only a small amount or detail which makes it true, and that therefore it is best to consider the opposite statement as being true.
I hardly know you...
Their two faces were hardly more than eighteen inches apart.
= scarcely, barely
ADV : ADV before v , ADV group , oft ADV amount [ emphasis ]
2.
You use hardly in expressions such as hardly ever , hardly any , and hardly anyone to mean almost never, almost none, or almost no-one.
We ate chips every night, but hardly ever had fish...
Most of the others were so young they had hardly any experience...
ADV : ADV ever/any
3.
You use hardly before a negative statement in order to emphasize that something is usually true or usually happens.
Hardly a day goes by without a visit from someone.
= scarcely
ADV : ADV n [ emphasis ]
4.
When you say you can hardly do something, you are emphasizing that it is very difficult for you to do it.
My garden was covered with so many butterflies that I could hardly see the flowers.
ADV : can/could ADV inf [ emphasis ]
5.
If you say hardly had one thing happened when something else happened, you mean that the first event was followed immediately by the second.
He had hardly collected the papers on his desk when the door burst open...
= no sooner
ADV : ADV before v
6.
You use hardly to mean ‘not’ when you want to suggest that you are expecting your listener or reader to agree with your comment.
We have not seen the letter, so we can hardly comment on it...
ADV : ADV before v , ADV group
7.
You use ‘ hardly ’ to mean ‘no’, especially when you want to express surprise or annoyance at a statement that you disagree with. ( SPOKEN )
‘They all thought you were marvellous!’—‘Well, hardly.’...
CONVENTION