Cấu trúc Barely: Định nghĩa, cách sử dụng và bài tập chi tiết

1. Barely là gì?

Theo từ điển Cambridge, cấu trúc barely trong câu thường mang nghĩa phủ định, được sử dụng để diễn tả ý nghĩa là “vừa mới”, “khi”, hoặc “hầu như không”. 

For example:

• He hardly eats fried chicken. (Anh ta hiếm khi ăn gà rán).
• Hardly had I left the office when the customer came. (Tôi vừa mới rời khỏi văn phòng thì vị khách hàng đến.)

2. The position of Hardly in a sentence

The structure of Hardly is often written in several common forms, whereby Hardly can appear at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence. Let's look at the formulas and examples to better understand this structure.

2.1 Hardly at the beginning of a sentence

When hardly is at the beginning of a sentence, it becomes an inverted sentence. In this case, there are two types of inverted sentences: inversion with a normal verb and inversion with the structure hardly ... when.

Inversion with normal verbs

Similar to the structure above, hardly means almost not. Structure:

Hardly + auxiliary verb + S + V (infinitive)

Example:

• Hardly do we go to the cinema together = We hardly go to the cinema together (Chúng tôi hầu như không đến rạp chiếu cùng nhau).

• Hardly had I gone to work after 7:30 AM. (Hầu như tôi không đi làm sau 7 giờ rưỡi sáng.)

Inversion with Hardly ... when structure 

In this structure, hardly … when means just … when. Structure:

Hardly + had + S + P2 + when + S + V (ed)

Ví dụ: Hardly had I gone out when it rained. (Tôi vừa ra ngoài thì trời mưa.)

2.2 Hardly positioned in the middle of a sentence

In this structure, hardly means almost not. 

Structure:

S + hardly + Verb/Noun/Adj

Ví dụ:  Something is wrong with the phone – I can hardly hear you. (Có gì đó không ổn với điện thoại – Tôi hầu như không thể nghe thấy bạn nói.)

Because it is an adverb, Hardly comes after the verb to be:

S + to be + hardly + N/Adj

Ví dụ: I must go to the supermarket now. There is hardly anything to eat today. (Tôi phải đi siêu thị bây giờ. Hầu như không còn gì để ăn hôm nay.)

3. Various structures of hardly when combined with words

Hardly + any

Hardly + Any, Anyone, Anybody, Anything (Hầu như không có bất kỳ…)

For example:

• We hardly saw any wildlife during our hike. (Chúng tôi hầu như không thấy gặp bất kỳ loài động vật hoang dã nào trong chuyến đi leo núi của chúng tôi.)
• Hardly anyone could afford to buy this painting because it’s so expensive. (Hầu như không ai có thể đủ khả năng mua bức tranh này vì nó quá đắt đỏ.)

Hardly + ever

Hardly + Ever (Hiếm khi, ít khi…)

For example:

• She hardly ever goes to bed before midnight. (Cô ấy hiếm khi đi ngủ trước nửa đêm.)
• They hardly ever visit their relatives who live in another country. (Họ hiếm khi thăm bà con sống ở một quốc gia khác của họ.)

Hardly + at all

Hardly + at all (Hầu như không, hầu như không thể…)

When paired with hardly, “at all” can be placed after a verb, noun, or adjective to emphasize

For example:

• She can hardly hear anything at all without her hearing aid. (Cô ấy hầu như không thể nghe được gì cả nếu không có máy trợ thính.) 
• They hardly speak any Spanish at all, even though they’ve been studying it for years. (Họ hầu như không nói tiếng Tây Ban Nha gì cả, mặc dù đã học nó từ nhiều năm.)

4. Differentiating Hard and Hardly

In English, the word Hard is both an adjective and an adverb, meaning “difficult, tough, or diligent‘ Many learners have mistakenly thought that Hardly is the adverb form of Hard; however, the adverb form of Hard is also Hard. 

Meanwhile, the word Hardly has a completely different meaning, serving as an adverb meaning “almost not, rarely” or indicating “just, only recently”. 

For example: 

• She found it hard to believe his excuse for being late again. (Cô ấy thấy khó tin vào lý do anh ta muộn lại một lần nữa.)
• She worked hard all day to meet the deadline for her project. (Cô ấy làm việc chăm chỉ suốt cả ngày để kịp deadline cho dự án của mình.)
• The concert was so crowded that we could hardly find a place to stand. (Buổi hòa nhạc quá đông đúc đến nỗi chúng tôi hầu như không thể tìm được chỗ để đứng.)

5. Equivalent structures to the Hardly structure 

Some common structures equivalent to the Hardly … when structure mean: just, as detailed below:

Structure 1:

No sooner had + S + V(PP/V3) + than + S + V(ed): Just … when…

For example:

• No sooner had Jenny received a call than she left for her place = Harly had Jennyy received a call when she left for her place. (Jenny vừa mới nhận được một cuộc gọi, cô ấy đã rời khỏi chỗ của cô ấy.

Structure 2:

Hardly / Barely / Scarcely had + S + V (PP/V3) + when / before + S + Ved: Just … when…

For example:

• Scarcely had John turned on the TV when his mom shouted at him = Hardly had John turned on the TV when his mom shouted at him. (John vừa mới bật Tivi thì mẹ anh ấy đã quát anh ấy.)

Structure 3:

Hardly + any = very little, very few: Very few, very little

Ví dụ: There were very few people at the party = There were hardly any people at the party (Có rất ít người tại buổi tiệc.)

Exercise Application

Exercise 1: Fill in the blanks

1. …… had I played tennis …… my sister studied.
2. We can …… breathe. 
3. I …… go to the concerts
4. My father can …… read …… without glasses. 
5. …… do I play badminton
6. She …… reads …… newspapers.
7. …… did he go to the concert.
8. I will …… forget my teacher at primary school.

Exercise 2: Rewrite the sentence using hardly ... when structure without changing the meaning

1. She finished the meal. She started feeling hungry again. 
2. I closed the door. Somebody knocked again. 
3. I put the phone down. It rang again. 
4. As soon as she met her father, she started crying. 

Answer Key

Exercise 1:

1. Hardly … when
2. Hardly
3. hardly/ hardly ever
4. hardly … at all
5. Hardly
6. hardly … any
7. Hardly
8. hardly/ hardly ever

Exercise 2:

1. Hardly had she finished the meal when she started feeling hungry again.
2. Hardly had I closed the door when somebody knocked again.
3. Hardly had I put the phone down when it rang again.
4. Hardly had she met her father when she started crying.

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