Hardly vs Impossible - What's the difference?
hardly | impossible |
(manner, obsolete) Firmly, vigorously, with strength or exertion.
*, Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.148:
(manner, archaic) Harshly, severely.
With difficulty.
*, Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.234:
* 1977 , , The Honourable Schoolboy , Folio Society 2010, p. 40:
(degree) Barely, only just, almost not.
* {{quote-news, year=2011, date=November 3, author=David Ornstein, work=BBC Sport
, title= * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-06, volume=408, issue=8843, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= Not really.
Not possible; not able to be done or happen.
* 1865 , (Lewis Carroll), (w, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)
* 13 March 1962 ,
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-28, author=(Joris Luyendijk)
, volume=189, issue=3, page=21, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= (colloquial, of a person) Very difficult to deal with.
(math, dated) imaginary
an impossibility
* Late 14th century': “Madame,” quod he, “this were an '''impossible !” — Geoffrey Chaucer, ‘The Franklin's Tale’, ''Canterbury Tales
As an adverb hardly
is (manner|obsolete) firmly, vigorously, with strength or exertion.As an interjection hardly
is not really.As an adjective impossible is
not possible; not able to be done or happen.As a noun impossible is
an impossibility.hardly
English
Adverb
(en-adv)- Let him hardly be possest with an honest curiositie to search out the nature and causes of all things.
- And what gentle flame soever doth warme the heart of young virgins, yet are they hardly drawne to leave and forgoe their mothers, to betake them to their husbands.
- While in Chelsea, Anne Smiley pined, taking very hardly to her unaccustomed role of wife abandoned.
Macc Tel-Aviv 1-2 Stoke, passage=With this the second of three games in seven days for Stoke, it was hardly surprising to see nine changes from the side that started against Newcastle in the Premier League on Monday.}}
The rise of smart beta, passage=Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return.}}
Usage notes
In the sense "barely", it is grammatically a negative word. It therefore collocates with ever rather than never. * Compare example sentence with I almost never watch televisionSynonyms
* barely, just, only just, scarcelyInterjection
(en interjection)- I think the Beatles are a really overrated band. &
- x2015; Hardly !
Statistics
* English degree adverbsimpossible
English
Alternative forms
* inpossible (obsolete)Adjective
(en adjective)- Nothing is impossible , only impassible.
- Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
Our banks are out of control, passage=Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. When a series of bank failures made this impossible , there was widespread anger, leading to the public humiliation of symbolic figures.}}
- impossible quantities, or imaginary numbers