Representing when, where, how and why
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Students' problems | page 8 of 12 |
Hard and hardly
Students sometimes do not realise that the word hard is an adverb of manner as well as an adjective. They add -ly to create an adverb, but hardly has a different meaning of "not quite true, or if true, only just", and it usually comes in front of the main verb:
In the 50s and 60s Hong Kong people were working hardly.
(TeleNex Students)
This should be:
In the 50s and 60s Hong Kong people were working hard.
A correct use of hardly would be:
The brake can hardly work as usual when a truck is driving at 80 mph and has a container connected. (SCMP 2/9/92)
This means that the brake is only just able to work - and not able to work as well as it should.
For further information about hard and hardly, see 
Representing when, where, how and why: Representing how (p 3).
Introduction
Hard and hardly
