We have learned to negate verbs by adding 'not' or 'do not'. We can also negate verbs using adverbs of time such as 'hardly', 'rarely' or 'never'. These adverbs tell us that the action expressed by the verb doesn't happen very often or happens to a very minimal extent.
For example, other ways to say "Tom does not come late" are:
- Tom never comes late. (= Tom always comes on time.)
- Tom hardly ever / rarely comes late. (= Tom almost always comes on time)
When we use these adverbs with a helping verb like 'be', they come after the helping verb:
- Tom is never late. (Not 'Tom never is late')
Hardly means 'barely', 'minimally', or 'almost not'. It is often used with 'can':
- His voice is so soft, you can hardly hear him. (= It is almost impossible to hear him)
- You can hardly see him in the crowd.
'Hardly ever' means "almost never":
- She is hardly ever in the country. (= She is almost never in the country. She is almost always abroad )
'Rarely' means "hardly ever" or "almost never".
- She is rarely in the country.
- Since his accident, he rarely goes outside.
