“Difficult.” Merriam-Webster.com dictionary, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hardly%20ever. Accessed October 11, 2022. Rare, rare, rare and rare there are adverbs of frequency. We can use them to relate to things that almost never happen or don`t happen very often. They have a negative meaning. We use them without doing so. Rarely, barely and rarely, they are more frequent in writing than in speech: a long strip of smooth ice followed, on which he slipped with ever more speed. This is not the time to discuss finances. So rarely, almost never. Very rarely, almost never, as in This kind of thief is almost never caught, or he rarely evokes his experiences of war.

Those who are still in these expressions, which were first recorded in 1694, serve as amplifiers. In more formal styles, to relate to something that happens immediately after something else, we use little/hardly. when. We barely move forward and reverse the subject and the verb: you can`t wait for Myra to welcome you back after the way you treated her. Alice was so busy that she barely noticed that the days were passing. The region`s wine industry is just over 40 years old. And yet, again and again, we devour the ever-growing selection of Jewish dating apps and websites and Facebook groups – why? It`s no surprise that people start complaining. She had barely arrived when she started talking about leaving. As soon as [V] got [S], I got comfortable and closed my eyes when I heard the sound of the alarm. You need – there are more than 200,000 words in our free online dictionary, but you are looking for one that can only be found in the Merriam-Webster Unabridged dictionary.

Start your free trial today and get unlimited access to America`s largest dictionary with us: Usually we put these adverbs in the middle, between the subject and the main verb, after the modal verb or the first auxiliary verb, or after the main verb. In more formal styles, we put them in the front position and reverse the subject and verb. If there is no auxiliary or modal verb, we use do/does/did. Jen was so tired. She could barely keep her eyes open. I had rarely seen so many people on the street. Hardly and barely can mean “almost not at all” or “just right”. Hardly more frequent than hardly and barely more formal: Find the answers online with Practical English Usage, your indispensable guide to problems in English. Things are rarely as bad as you think. Find out which words work together and create more natural English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app. Join our community to access the latest language learning and assessment tips from Oxford University Press! As soon as the men began training, they were sent into battle. Providing fresh trout for dinner was rarely a problem.