Frequency adverbs meaning ‘not very often’
Hardly ever,rarely,scarcelyandseldomare frequency adverbs. We can use them to refer to things that almost never happen, or do not happen very often. They have a negative meaning. We use them withoutnot.Rarely,scarcelyandseldomare more common in writing than in speaking:
Hehardly eversmiles.
[a trout is a type of fish]
Providing fresh trout for dinner wasrarelya problem.
Shescarcelysaw her grandchildren.
Griffin, the physics teacher,seldomshouted.
Hardlyandscarcelymeaning ‘almost not at all’
Hardlyandscarcelycan mean ‘almost not at all’ or ‘only just’.Hardlyis muchmore common thanscarcely, andscarcelyis more formal:
Jen was so tired. She couldscarcelykeep her eyes open.
Ihardlyknow them. I’ve only met them once.
Word order
We usually put these adverbs in mid position, between the subject and main verb, after the modal verb or first auxiliary verb, or after main verbbe. In more formal styles, we put them in front position and invert the subject and verb. If there is no auxiliary or modal verb, we usedo/does/did.
neutral | formal |
|
|
|
|
|
|
See also:
Often
Sometimesorsometime?
Neverornot … ever?
In more formal styles, to refer to something happening immediately after something else, we usescarcely/hardly … when. We movehardlyandscarcelyto front position and invert the subject and verb:
Scarcely[V]had[S]Igot myself comfortable and closed my eyeswhenI heard the sound of the alarm.
See also:
Hardly