Master confusing words with ease
Hard vs. Hardly
Hard
/hɑːd/Examples:
They slam me harder against the wall.He was a hard man, and his answer was unfriendly.Helm alee - hard aport!
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
Hardly
/ˈhɑːdli/Examples:
Hardly that," said Japp dryly.Even Julia hardly gathered the full import of it.She could hardly keep her eyes open.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
Ways to tell them apart:
- Hard can describe a solid object like a rock, so its more physical. Hardly sounds like barely', both implying insufficiency.
- Think of hard as a challenge you need to overcome, while hardly suggests something barely happened or was achieved.
- When you work hard, you put in a lot of effort. If you can hardly see something, there isn't enough light or clarity.
- Hard is often about the intensity with which something is done, whereas hardly is about the scarcity of the action or condition.
- Use hard when you want to talk about effort or resistance; use hardly when you're describing a minimal degree of something.
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