UnitAdjectives and adverbs 2
101 (well, fast, late, hard/hardly)
A good and well
Good is an adjective. The adverb is well:
Your English is good. but You speak English well.
Sophie is a good pianist. but Sophie plays the piano well.
We use well (not good) with past participles (known/educated etc.). For example:
well-known well-educated well-paid well-behaved
Sophie’s father is a well-known writer.
Well is also an adjective meaning ‘in good health’:
‘How are you today?’ ‘I’m very well, thanks.’
B fast, hard and late
These words are both adjectives and adverbs:
adjective adverb
Darren is a fast runner. Darren can run fast.
It’s hard to find a job right now. Kate works hard. (not works hardly)
Sorry I’m late. I got up late.
lately = recently:
Have you seen Kate lately?
C hardly
hardly = very little, almost not:
Sarah wasn’t very friendly at the party. She hardly spoke to me.
(= she spoke to me very little)
We’ve only met once or twice. We hardly know each other.
Compare hard and hardly:
He tried hard to find a job, but he had no luck. (= he tried a lot, with a lot of e ort)
I’m not surprised he didn’t find a job. He hardly tried. (= he tried very little)
Hardly goes before the verb:
We hardly know each other. (not We know each other hardly)
I can hardly do something = it’s very di icult for me, almost impossible:
Your writing is terrible. I can hardly read it. (= it is almost impossible to read it)
My leg was hurting. I could hardly walk.
D You can use hardly + any/anybody/anyone/anything/anywhere: There’s hardly anything
: How much money do we have? in the fridge.
: Hardly any. (= very little, almost none)
These two cameras are very similar. There’s hardly any
di erence between them.
The exam results were bad. Hardly anybody in our
class passed. (= very few students passed)
She was very quiet. She said hardly anything. or
She hardly said anything.
hardly ever = almost never:
I’m nearly always at home in the evenings. I hardly ever go out.
Hardly also means ‘certainly not’. For example:
It’s hardly surprising that you’re tired. You haven’t slept for three days.
(= it’s certainly not surprising)
The situation is serious, but it’s hardly a crisis. (= it’s certainly not a crisis)
202 Adjectives a er verbs (‘You look tired’ etc.) ➜ Unit 99C Adjectives and adverbs 1 ➜ Unit 100
Unit
Exercises 101
101.1 Put in good or well.
1 I play tennis but I’m not very good .
2 Joe’s exam results were very good .
3 Joe did well in his exams.
4 I didn’t sleep well last night.
5 I like your hat. It looks good on you.
6 Can you speak up? I can’t hear you very well . I can hardly hear you
7 I’ve met her a few times, but I don’t know her well .
8 Lucy speaks German well . She’s
good at languages.
101.2 Complete these sentences using well + the following words:
behaved informed kept known paid written
1 The children were very good. They were well behaved .
2 I’m surprised you haven’t heard of her. She is quite well known .
3 Our neighbours’ garden is neat and tidy. It is very well kept well looked after .
4 I enjoyed the book. It’s a great story and it’s very well written .
5 Tanya knows about everything. She is very well informed .
6 Jane works very hard in her job, but she isn’t very well paid .
101.3 Which is right?
1 I’m tired because I’ve been working hard / hardly. (hard is correct)
2 I wasn’t in a hurry, so I was walking slow / slowly.
3 I haven’t been to the cinema late / lately.
4 Slow down! You’re walking too fast / quick for me.
5 I tried hard / hardly to remember her name, but I couldn’t. I hardly recognized him
6 This coat is practically unused. I’ve hard / hardly worn it.
7 Laura is a good tennis player. She hits the ball very hard / hardly.
8 It’s really dark in here. I can hardly see / see hardly.
9 Ben is going to run a marathon. He’s been training hard / hardly.
101.4 Complete the sentences. Use hardly + the following verbs (in the correct form):
change hear know recognise say sleep speak
1 Scott and Tracy have only met once before. They hardly know each other.
2 You’re speaking very quietly. I can you.
3 I don’t feel good this morning. I last night.
4 We were so shocked when we heard the news, we could .
5 Kate was very quiet this evening. She anything.
6 Gary looks just like he looked 15 years ago. He has .
7 David looked di erent without his beard. I him.
101.5 Complete these sentences with hardly + any/anybody/anything/anywhere/ever.
1 I’ll have to go shopping. There’s hardly anything to eat.
2 It was a very warm day and there was wind.
3 ‘Do you know much about computers?’ ‘No, .’
4 The hotel was almost empty. There was staying there.
5 I listen to the radio a lot, but I watch TV.
6 It was very crowded in the room. There was to sit.
7 We used to be good friends, but we see each other now.
8 We invited lots of people to the party, but came.
9 It didn’t take us long to drive there. There was tra ic.
10 There isn’t much to do in this town. There’s to go.
➜ Additional exercise 31 (page 320) 203
