1. hardly 只是一般的否定副詞，其意為 almost not, barely, scarcely。如：

He hardly looked at it 他幾乎沒看它。

He can hardly be right. 他不大可能是對的。

I was so tired that I could hardly walk. 我累得幾乎走不動了。

He’s so stupid; I hardly think I’ll want to talk with him! 他那么笨，我簡直不想跟他說話！

2. hardly ever 其實是表示一種否定的頻度，相當于 rarely, seldom, almost never等。如：

It hardly ever snows here. 這兒幾乎從不下雪。

I hardly ever see Brian these days. 這幾天我難得見到布賴恩。

I’ve got so little time, I hardly ever read newspapers. 我時間很緊，不怎么看報。

My mother lives so far away that we hardly ever see her. 我母親住得那么遠，我們很少見到她。

3. 在 hardly…when [before]…（一…就…）這一句式中，原則不能用 hardly ever，因為這里的 hardly 并不表頻率。如：

I had hardly closed my eyes when the telephone rang. 我剛合上眼，電話鈴就響了。

We had hardly started when it began to rain. 我們剛出發就下起雨來。

We had hardly started when it began to rain. 我們剛出發，天就開始下雨了。

We had hardly entered into the matter when he came in. 我們剛開始討論此事，他就來了。