Hard and hardly

What's the difference between hard and hardly?

Hard and hardly have completely different meanings. Look at these examples, then choose hard or hardly to complete the rules.

Diamonds are very hard.

He worked very hard on Monday.

The grammar was very hard.

He hardly slept on Monday.

He has hardly any money.

We use  as an adjective to mean difficult.

We use  as an adjective to mean the opposite of soft.

We use  as an adverb to mean almost not (with a verb), or almost none (with any + noun).

We use  as an adverb to mean to do something with a lot of effort.

Practice

Choose the best word (hard or hardly) to complete these sentences.

  1. We've won the lottery! I can  believe it!
  2. This film is really  to understand.
  3. I don't like  beds - I can't sleep.
  4. I've had  anything to eat today.
  5. If you work  you should pass your exams.
  6. It rained every day on our holiday, so we  went out.
  7. I  remember my childhood - it was too long ago.
  8. I've  done any work because I was watching TV.