2 syllables: hard, ly. Stress on hard.
HAHRD-lee
/ˈhɑɹdli/
hardly is pronounced HAHRD-lee (/ˈhɑɹdli/). It has two syllables (hard-ly), with the stress on "hard". Hardly means scarcely or barely, used to express a small degree or insufficiency. It signals a negative or restricted extent and often introduces a contrast or exception. In everyday use, it functions as an adverb, frequently modifying verbs or adjectives to indicate minimal likelihood or extent, and it can imply surprise or understatement depending on context.
Hardly means scarcely or barely, used to express a small degree or insufficiency. It signals a negative or restricted extent and often introduces a contrast or exception. In everyday use, it functions as an adverb, frequently modifying verbs or adjectives to indicate minimal likelihood or extent, and it can imply surprise or understatement depending on context.
- You may overextend the first vowel, turning /ɑː/ into a broader /ɒ/ or /æ/ depending on region. Keep the /ɑː/ long, but not dragged into a diphthong. - Do not attach a strong vowel to the final -ly; keep it light and quick: /ˈhɑːd.li/ rather than /ˈhɑːrdli/. - Avoid turning the /d/ into a blended /ɹ/ or /z/ sound; keep a clean alveolar stop with a crisp release. - In rapid speech, avoid inserting extra vowels; preserve two-syllable rhythm with a short final /li/.”,
"I hardly slept last night, so I’m tired today."
"She hardly knows him, yet they seem friendly."
"The weather was hardly ideal for a hike, but we went anyway."
Pronounce it as two syllables with primary stress on the first: /ˈhɑːd.li/ in US and UK IPA. Start with an open back unrounded vowel /ɑː/ (as in ‘car’), then a clear /d/ stop, and finish with a soft, unstressed /li/ where the /l/ is light and the /i/ is a short, quick vowel. In some American regions, the /ɑː/ can be realized closer to /æ/ in rapid speech, but keep the two-syllable rhythm.
Common errors include turning the first syllable into a diphthong like /æ/ as in ‘had,’ producing /ˈhærd.li/. Another mistake is over-emphasizing the -ly ending, making it /li/ as a full syllable instead of a light, almost silent final syllable. Additionally, some speakers carry over the /r/ in non-rhotic accents; in US/UK/AU, ensure /r/ accompanies the first syllable only when rhotic pronunciation requires it. Focus on the crisp /d/ release and a quick, light /li/.
In US English, /ˈhɑːrd.li/ with rhoticity— /r/ pronounced after the vowel. In RP (UK), /ˈhɑːd.li/ with non-rhoticity, the /r/ is not pronounced and the /ɑː/ is often pure and long with a brief /d/; the /l/ is clear. Australian English typically aligns with non-rhotic or mildly rhotic tendencies depending on speaker, with a clearer /l/ and a slightly shorter final syllable. Across accents, the key differences are rhoticity, vowel length, and the strength of the /d/ and /l/ segments.
Two main challenges: first, the precise placement of the /d/ in the middle and the quick transition to the /l/ in the final syllable; second, managing a reduced, unstressed final -ly after a stressed first syllable. The two-syllable rhythm can feel awkward because your tongue must move rapidly from alveolar stop to liquid without a strong vowel between. Paying attention to tongue-tip contact for /d/ and a light /l/ release helps avoid a spurious extra vowel and keeps the word crisp.
Is there a distinct, subtle pause after the /d/ in careful speech, and how does that affect intelligibility? In careful or enunciated speech you may perceive a tiny separation before the /l/, especially when the word is emphasized for contrast: HAH-d-ly with a very light, almost glottalized /d/ and a clearly articulated final /l/ before the light /i/. This micro-separation can help pacing and prevent slurring in fast speech.
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- US: rhotic /r/ in /ˈhɑrd/; ensure the /r/ is pronounced post-vowel; keep /i/ short. - UK: non-rhotic; drop the rhotic /r/; the first vowel tends to be pure /ɑː/; keep /d/ crisp and the /l/ light. - AU: often non-rhotic, with a broad /ɑː/; the final /li/ is light, quick, and not heavily articulated. In all, ensure the /r/ (if present) doesn’t bleed into /ɑː/; maintain two-syllable rhythm and a quick /d/ release. IPA references: US /ˈhɑɹd.li/ or /ˈhɑɹd.li/, UK /ˈhɑːd.li/, AU /ˈhɑːd.li/.
Hardly originates in Middle English as the combination of hard, meaning firm or solid, with the adverbial suffix -ly to form an adverb meaning ‘in a hard manner’ or, by extension, ‘with difficulty’. Its semantic shift solidified during the Early Modern English period, where hard retained its sense of severity or difficulty, and hardly began to convey ‘almost not’ or ‘barely’. By the 15th-16th centuries, contexts emphasized limited extent rather than physical hardness. The modern usage, widely inherited from Latin and Old English adverbial formations, matured to express restrictive degree or improbability, often contrasting with the expected outcome. First known uses appear in the late medieval to early Renaissance corpora, where writers used phrases like “hardly went” to signify nearly did not go, or “hardly know” to indicate scant familiarity. Over centuries, hardly remained one of those adverbs that carries a subtle tonal bite—enabling understatement, irony, or caution—while maintaining its core meaning of “almost not.” In contemporary English, hardly is almost always a negated adverb of degree, frequently co-occurring with verbs and adjectives to mark minimal extent, and it sometimes participates in colloquial contractions (hardly ever) to emphasize rarity or improbability.
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Words that rhyme with "hardly"
-dly sounds
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