Intermediate grammar · Unit 101 · B1

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

Adjectives and adverbs

The adverb from good is well. Fast, hard and late are both adjectives and adverbs. Hardly is a different word altogether: it means very little or almost not.

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A good and well

Good is an adjective. The adverb is well.

adjective adverb
Your Welsh is good. You speak Welsh well.
Emily is a good swimmer. Emily swims well.

We use well (not good) with past participles: well-known, well-paid, well-educated, well-behaved.

Well is also an adjective meaning in good health.

  • Your Welsh is good.
  • You speak Welsh well.
  • Emily's a good swimmer, and she dives well too.
  • Her mum's a well-known artist in Bristol.
  • "How's your grandad?" "He's very well, thanks."

B fast, hard and late

These words are both adjectives and adverbs. They do not take -ly.

adjective adverb
Jade has a fast car. Jade drives fast.
It's hard to get a dentist round here. Liam works hard. (not works hardly)
The train was late. I got up late.

Lately is a separate word. It means recently.

  • Jade drives far too fast.
  • Liam works hard, and it shows.
  • Sorry, I got up late.
  • Have you been to the gym lately?

C hardly

Hardly means very little or almost not. It has nothing to do with working hard.

hard hardly
She tried hard to get the job. (She made a great effort.) She hardly tried. (She made very little effort.)

Hardly goes before the main verb: we hardly know each other, not we know each other hardly.

I can hardly do something means that it is very difficult for me, almost impossible.

  • Ellie wasn't very chatty at the barbecue. She hardly spoke to me.
  • We've only met twice. We hardly know each other.
  • He tried hard to fix the boiler, but it still won't start.
  • It's no surprise the boiler won't start. He hardly tried.
  • Your handwriting's awful. I can hardly read it.
  • My back was killing me. I could hardly stand up.

D hardly any, hardly anything, hardly ever

You can use hardly + any / anybody / anyone / anything / anywhere. Hardly any means very little or very few, almost none.

Hardly ever means almost never.

Hardly can also mean certainly not. It's hardly surprising that you are tired after a thirteen-hour shift; one would be more surprised if you were not.

  • "How much milk is there?" "Hardly any."
  • These two phones are almost the same. There's hardly any difference between them.
  • The quiz was really hard. Hardly anybody got more than half right.
  • He was very shy. He said hardly anything.
  • He was very shy. He hardly said anything.
  • I'm nearly always in on weekday evenings. I hardly ever go out.
  • It's hardly surprising you're tired. You've worked thirteen hours.
  • The car needs a new tyre, but it's hardly an emergency.

Exercises

101.1 Put in good or well.

  1. I play the guitar, but I'm not very good.

    I play the guitar, but I'm not very good.

  2. Amira's essay was very .

  3. Amira did in her driving test.

  4. The baby didn't sleep very last night.

  5. That colour looks really on you.

  6. The line's terrible. I can't hear you very .

  7. We've worked in the same building for years, but I don't know him very .

  8. Owen plays the violin . He's very at music.

101.2 Complete these sentences using well and one of these words: behaved, informed, kept, known, paid, written.

behavedinformedkeptknownpaidwritten

  1. The dog didn't bark once while we were there. It was very well behaved.

    The dog didn't bark once while we were there. It was very well behaved.

  2. I can't believe you've never heard of him. He's quite round here.

  3. The allotment next to ours is beautifully neat. It's very .

  4. I loved that novel. The plot is brilliant and it's very .

  5. Ask Bethany. She reads three newspapers a day, so she's very .

  6. Care workers work extremely hard, but they aren't very .

101.3 Which is right?

  1. My legs ache because I've been cycling ___. (hard / hardly)

    hard

    My legs ache because I've been cycling hard.

  2. There was no rush, so we drove ___ along the coast. (slow / slowly)

  3. Have you heard from Becky ___? (late / lately)

  4. Wait for me! You're going too ___. (fast / quick)

  5. I tried ___ to stay awake, but I fell asleep before the end. (hard / hardly)

  6. These boots are nearly new. I've ___ worn them. (hard / hardly)

  7. Rory's a strong player. He kicks the ball really ___. (hard / hardly)

  8. The fog was so thick that I could ___ the road. (hardly see / see hardly)

  9. Zara is climbing Snowdon for charity. She's been training ___. (hard / hardly)

101.4 Complete the sentences. Use hardly and one of these verbs in the correct form: change, hear, know, recognise, say, sleep, speak.

changehearknowrecognisesaysleepspeak

  1. Owen and Lucy only met for the first time last week. They hardly know each other.

    Owen and Lucy only met for the first time last week. They hardly know each other.

  2. The music's far too loud. I can you.

  3. I'm shattered this morning. I last night.

  4. We were so stunned by the result that we could .

  5. Marcus was very quiet at dinner. He anything.

  6. My old primary school looks just as it did when I was seven. It has .

  7. Lena had dyed her hair bright red. I her.

101.5 Complete these sentences with hardly + any, anybody, anything, anywhere or ever.

  1. We need to go to the shop. There's hardly anything in the cupboards.

    We need to go to the shop. There's hardly anything in the cupboards.

  2. The sea was calm and there was wind.

  3. "Do you know much about cars?" "No, ."

  4. The campsite was nearly empty. There was staying there.

  5. I read a lot of books, but I go to the cinema.

  6. The café was packed. There was to sit.

  7. We were close at school, but we speak to each other now.

  8. We put posters up all over town, but came to the jumble sale.

  9. The drive didn't take long. There was traffic.

  10. There's not much nightlife in the village. There's to go.

See also