What is the Difference Between ‘Rarely’ and ‘Hardly’?

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In English, there are words that look similar but have different meanings. ‘Rarely’ and ‘hardly’ are two of these words. They both mean ‘not often’, but there is a small difference that is important to understand. This article will explain the difference between ‘rarely’ and ‘hardly’ in a simple way.

What is the Meaning of ‘Rarely’?

The word ‘rarely’ means ‘not very often’. When we say something happens rarely, it means it does not happen much or very frequently. However, it still happens sometimes, just not a lot.

Here are some examples using ‘rarely’:

• I rarely eat ice cream. (I do eat ice cream, but not very often.)
• My aunt rarely visits us. (My aunt does visit us, but not very often.)
• It rarely snows in summer. (It does snow in summer sometimes, but not very often.)

What is the Meaning of ‘Hardly’?

The word ‘hardly’ has a stronger meaning than ‘rarely’. ‘Hardly’ means ‘almost not’ or ‘only a very little bit’. When we say something ‘hardly’ happens, it means it almost never happens or it happens only a very small amount.

Here are some examples using ‘hardly’:

• I hardly ever watch TV. (I almost never watch TV.)
• She can hardly speak Spanish. (She can speak only a very little bit of Spanish.)
• I can hardly see without my glasses. (I can almost not see at all without my glasses.)

The Key Difference

The main difference is that ‘rarely’ means ‘not very often’, but it still happens sometimes. ‘Hardly’ means ‘almost not at all’ or ‘only a very little bit’.

So if something happens ‘rarely’, it still occurs occasionally, just not frequently. But if something ‘hardly’ happens, it almost never occurs or occurs only a tiny amount.

Here are some more examples to help you see the difference:

More Examples Using ‘Rarely’

• My grandpa rarely forgets his keys. (He does forget his keys sometimes, but not very often.)
• The bus is rarely late. (The bus is late sometimes, but not very often.)
• She rarely misses school. (She does miss school sometimes, but not very often.)

More Examples Using ‘Hardly’

• I can hardly hear the teacher. (I can almost not hear the teacher at all.)
• He hardly ever does his homework. (He almost never does his homework.)
• I hardly knew her before we became friends. (I knew almost nothing about her before we became friends.)

Practice Makes Perfect

To learn when to use ‘rarely’ and ‘hardly’ correctly, you need to practice. Here are some practice examples:

• I ______ go to the movies. (rarely or hardly?)
• My sister ______ eats vegetables. (rarely or hardly?)
• It ______ rains in the desert. (rarely or hardly?)
• He ______ comes to class late. (rarely or hardly?)

Remember, ‘rarely’ means ‘not very often’ but it still happens sometimes. ‘Hardly’ means ‘almost not at all’ or ‘only a very little bit’.

With practice and patience, you will learn to use ‘rarely’ and ‘hardly’ correctly in your English conversations and writing.