Adjectives and adverbs (2)

UNIT 93 Adjectives and adverbs (2) (good/well, fast/hard/late, hardly)

A.   Good/well    Good is an adjective. The adverb is well.

• You speak English well.

• Your English is very good.

• She plays the piano well.

• Susan is a good pianist.

We often use well with past participles (dressed/known, etc.)

well dressed (not good dressed)
well known
well educated

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                                       adverb
Jack is a very fast runner.          Jack can run very fast.            

Ann is a hard worker.                 Ann works hard. (not works hardly)


The train was late.                       I got up late this morning.

The adverb lately= recently:

• Have you seen Tom lately?                       

C.    Hardly has a completely different meaning from hard:

Hardly= almost not. Study these examples:

• George asked Carol to marry him. She was surprised because they had only known each other for two days. She said: "We can't get married now! We hardly know each other.'' (= we know each other very little; we almost don't know each other)

• Why was Tom so unfriendly at the party last night? He hardly spoke to me. (= he spoke to me very little)

We often use hardly with can/could:

• Your writing is terrible. I can hardly read it (= I can read it but only with a lot of difficulty)

• My leg was hurting me. I could hardly walk.

We also use hardly with any/anyone/anything/anywhere:

• "How much money do you have?''   ''Hardly any." (= almost none; very little)

• The exam results were very bad. Hardly anyone passed. (= almost no one passed; very few people passed)

• She ate hardly anything because she didn't feel hungry. (she ate almost nothing, she ate very little)

Note that you can say:

• She ate hardly anything.             or    She hardly ate anything.

• We have hardly any food.           or   We hardly have any food.

• We've done hardly any work     or    We've hardly done any work.

Hardly ever= almost never

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