Work Hard vs Hardly Work

While teaching this week, the difference between hard and hardly came up 3 times in my lessons.

Let’s just say that this could be a very common mistake for language learners. All three of my learners said the same thing :       “He works hardly.”  It is definitely a first language interference issue  for italian learners.

Let’s example these 2 sentences:

• He  works hard. = He works a lot and in an intense way.
• He hardly works. = He barely or rarely works.

One is the opposite of the other but they look so similar, right?

Let’s give another 2 examples with the verb ‘play’:

• He plays hard. = He gives his all when he plays and he may be a little tough and aggressive.
• He hardly plays. = He is not actively engaged

For our Italian learners, the translation for hardly  is appena or a malapena. 

False friend, right? Have you ever made this mistake before?

Lem..xo!