Learning English

Or hardly working?

So, are you working hard right now?

Whether you are or not, we have a question: what is the word hard in that sentence?

It's an adverb – it gives more information about the way you are working.

But hard can also be adjective: it's a hard job, that bed is hard.

Hard is an example of a word which is both an adjective and an adverb. Other examples are:

• Fast
• Late
• Early
• High

In that case, what does hardly mean? Actually, it's not connected to hard – it means barely, only a little. So if you're hardly working, you're not working very much at all!

Similarly, these are examples of adverbs which don't always mean what you think:

• Lately (means recently: How have you been lately?)
• Highly (means favourably: His boss thinks highly of him)

Note 1

After sense verbs like look, taste, smell, feel and sound, we often use the adjective form, as if it was an adverb:

• That sounds bad / You look angry / She smells terrible / I feel awful

Note 2

Also, it's good to remember that not all words ending in –ly are adverbs. For example:

• That was a silly thing to do. (Adjective)
• He was a bully at school. (Noun)
• You have to apply for the job. (Verb)

Complete the activity

To do

Let's do an exercise where you have to select the right word. It could either be an adverb or an adjective, regular or irregular.

Next

Well done. Hope you now feel a bit more confident about using adjectives and adverbs! And to help you really make sure – listen to 6 Minute Grammar, next!