What's the difference between 'hard' and 'hardly'? - English In A Minute

Hi, I'm Phil

and I'm going to tell you about the difference between

'hard' and 'hardly'.

'Hard' we can use in lots of different ways

but it usually means 'strong', 'difficult' or 'intense':

Ow! That ball's hard!

Calculus is hard!

That was really hard work.

'Hardly' is an adverb

and it can mean 'almost not'.

This is too small I can hardly read it.

We can use it with 'any' to talk about quantity.

For example:

There's hardly any water in this cup.

We can use it with 'ever' for frequency.

For example:

I hardly ever play basketball.

To help you remember:

It's hard for me to play tennis

because I hardly ever train.

I can hardly walk afterwards

because I've been running hard.

And I often get hurt because the ball's hard,

and there's hardly any time to get out of the way!