Hard / Hardly

Hard and hardly are used differently and have different meanings.

Hard means to do something with a lot of effort
Eg. I studied hard last night. or I worked hard yesterday.

Hardly, in modern use, means to do something with little effort
Eg. I hardly studied = I didn’t study very much.
She hardly ever calls me anymore.

Note: often “…at all.” is added to the sentence after the verb.
eg. I hardly studied at all last semester. I hardly worked at all today.

Examples:
I hardly ever study English and still do well.
I hardly ever use email.
I hardly ever listen to the radio.

I have been studying hard these days. I work hard in school. I plan to work hard this semester.

Conversation
A: Did you study hard when you were in high school?
B: Believe it or not, I studied really hard, but my grades weren’t that good.
Or Believe it or not, I hardly studied at all, but I still got into university.

Keypal Activities

- What is something that you think you do hard?
- What is something you hardly do?

- Does hard work always pay off*? When does it pay off? Eg: Work hard in school and you will have a good future. OR When does it not pay off? Eg. Nice guys always finish last. Nice guys hardly ever get ahead.
*Pay off means get a reward.