Unit 101. Adjectives and adverbs 2 (well / fast / late, hard / hardly)
Unit 101; Part A

Good is an adjective. The adverb is well:
• Your English is good. but You speak English well.
• Susan is a good pianist. but Susan plays the piano well.
We use well (not good) with past participles (dressed/known etc.):
well-dressed well-known well-educated well-paid
• Gary's father is a well-known writer.
But well is also an adjective with the meaning 'in good health':
• 'How are you today? 'I'm very well, thanks.'
Unit 101; Part B

These words are both adjectives and adverbs:
adjective • Darren is a very fast runner. • Kate is a hard worker. • I was late. | adverb • Darren can run very fast. • Kate works hard. (not works hardly) • I got up late this morning. |
Lately = recently:
• Have you seen Tom lately?
Unit 101; Part C
![]() Hardly = very little, almost not. Study these examples: • Sarah wasn't very friendly at the party. She hardly spoke to me. (= she spoke to me very little, almost not at all) • We've only met once or twice. We hardly know each other. Hard and hardly are different. Compare: • He tried hard to find a job, but he had no luck. (= he tried a lot, with a lot of effort) • I'm not surprised he didn't find a job. He hardly tried to find one. (= he tried very little) ![]() • A: How much money have we got? B: Hardly any. (= very little, almost none) • These two cameras are very similar. There's hardly any difference between them. • The exam results were very bad. Hardly anybody in our class passed. (= very few students passed) Note that you can say: • She said hardly anything. or She hardly said anything. • We've got hardly any money. or We've hardly got any money. I can hardly do something = it's very difficult for me, almost impossible: • Your writing is terrible. I can hardly read it. (= it is almost impossible to read it) • My leg was hurting me. I could hardly walk. 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) |
Exercises
![]() | Unit 100 Unit 101 Unit 102 | ![]() |