44.    Hardly, scarcely, barely

hardly, scarcely and barely are almost negative in meaning. hardly is chiefly used with any, ever, at all or the verb can:

He has hardly any money, (very little money)

I hardly ever go out. (I very seldom go out.)

It hardly rained at all last summer.

Her case is so heavy that she can hardly lift it. But it can also be used with other verbs:

I hardly know him. (I know him only very slightly.)

Be careful not to confuse the adverbs hard and hardly:

He looked hard at it. (He stared at it.)

He hardly looked at it. (He gave it only a brief glance.)

scarcely can mean 'almost not' and could replace hardly as used above: scarcely any/scarcely ever etc. But scarcely is chiefly used to mean 'not quite':

There were scarcely twenty people there, (probably fewer)

barely means 'not more than/only just':

There were barely twenty people there, (only just twenty)

I can barely see it. (I can only just see it.)