21. Hard, hardly

Introductory material

Read and translate the following sentences paying special atten< tion to the words in bold type.

1. Ossie tried very hard not to upset Daniel. 2. He stood on the weighing-machine and looked hard at the arrow. 3. He might have got leave, but Axel, who was working very hard, probably too hard at one of those things that Simon could not understand, would certainly not agree to taking a holiday at the moment. 4. Mrs. Whirtley said that her committee had worked terribly hard and been marvellous. 5. He stared very hard at some cows in a meadow. 6. He squeezed her fingers hard. 7. He could hardly believe what he had heard. 8. When you look at him you can hardly persuade yourself that he’s ever been alive. It’s hard to think that not so very many years ago he was just a little boy. 9. «Are you feeling all right, Rupert? You hardly ate any supper.» «Yes, I feel fine.» 10. I could hardly have been less prudent. 11. «You are right,» he muttered. «I hardly know what I am saying at times.» 12. He had hardly finished speaking when a car was heard to stop outside. 13. She had no difficulty in getting paying guests. Her two spare rooms were hardly ever empty. 14. «You didn’t — stop him?» «How could I? I could hardly use force. I reasoned with him a little.» 15. You irritate him because you hardly ever let him finish a sentence. 16. He gave a glance at the farmer still lying where he had fallen and he could hardly help laughing at his funny face ... 17. You have hardly changed at all. 18. «One can hardly ever see what another person is like.» «You mean you can’t see what I’m like?» «No, I can hardly see what Morgan’s like.»

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Hard adv. 1. Strenuously; with all one’s force; energetically and persistently; with vigor and strength; e.g. to work.~. 2. So as to be hard, firm, e.g. to freeze ~.

3. With difficulty,, painfully, e.g. to die ~ (1— to fighf for one’s life to the very end; 2 — to die painfully).

Hardly adv. 1. Only just; not quite; barely, scarcely, e.g. I ~ know her (have only a very slight acquaintance with her); she is ~ twenty-one years old; he had ~ time; I’m so tired I can ~ walk; ~ had we arrived there when it began to rain; we had ~ arrived when it began to rain. 2. Used to suggest that smth. is improbable, unlikely, or unreasonable, e.g. it is ~ possible; he can ~ have arrived yet; you can ~ expect me to do it again. 3. (negative in meaning) Almost no, almost not, e.g. he ~ ever (very seldom) goes to bed before midnight; I need ~ say (it is almost unnecessary for me to say) that I am innocent; there’s ~ any coal left; ~ anybody (very few people).

The two adverbs, hard and hardly are often confused by Russian learners, especially in phrases like to work (study, try, think, etc.) hard. This confusion is brought about by the interfering influence both of Russian and English: the Russian words упорно, энергично, старательно, which correspond to the adverb hard are adverbs, and most adverbs in English are formed with the help of the suffix -ly. Thus the adverb hardly (едва, едва ли, насилу, с трудом) is erroneously used instead of hard. Besides the adverb hard there is a homonymous adjective hard (твердый, тяжелый, крепкий, суровый) which has a different sphere of application and is never confused with hardly.