Adjectives and adverbs (2) (well/fast/late, hard/hardly)

Adjectives and adverbs (2) (well/fast/late, hard/hardly)

A. Good/well

Good is an adjective. The adverb is well:

* Your English is good. but You speak English well.

* Susan is a good pianist. but Susan plays the piano well.

We use well (not 'good') with past participles (dressed/known etc.):

well-dressed well-known well-educated well-paid

But well is also an adjective with the meaning 'in good health':

* 'How are you today?', 'I'm very well, thanks.' (not 'I'm very good')

B. Fast/hard/late

These words are both adjectives and adverbs:

adjective:

* Jack is a very fast runner.

* Ann is a hard worker.

* The train was late.

adverb:

* Jack can run very fast.

* Ann works hard. (not 'works hardly')

* I got up late this morning.

Lately = 'recently'

* Have you seen Tom lately?

C. Hardly

Hardly = very little, almost not. Study these examples:

* Sarah was rather unfriendly to me at the party. She hardly spoke to me. (= she spoke to me very little,

almost not at all)

* George and Hilda want to get married but they've only known each other for a few

days. I don't think they should get married yet. They hardly know each other. (= they know each other very

little)

Hard and hardly are completely different. Compare:

* He tried hard to find a job but he had no luck. (= he tried a lot, with a lot of effort)

* I'm not surprised he didn't find a job. He hardly tried to find one. (= he tried very little)

We often use hardly + any/anybody/anyone/anything/anywhere:

* A: How much money have you got?

B: Hardly any. (= very little, almost none)

* I'll have to go shopping. We've got hardly any food.

* The exam results were very bad. Hardly anybody in our class passed. (= very few students passed,

almost nobody passed)

* She ate hardly anything. She wasn't feeling hungry. (= she ate very little, almost nothing) Note the

position of hardly. You can say:

* She ate hardly anything. or She hardly ate anything.

* We've got hardly any food. or We've hardly got any food. We often use can/could + hardly. I can hardly

do something = it's almost impossible for me to do it:

* Your writing is terrible. I can hardly read it. (= it is almost impossible for me to read it)

* My leg was hurting me. I could hardly walk. Hardly ever = almost never

* I'm nearly always at home in the evenings. I hardly ever go out.