could've hardly been

I'm no expert, but I would have to say, the sentence should be: They couldN'T have been any more helpless.

Thank you. I understand the negative construction in the grammatical context of your sentence, but do you mean that "hardy" should not be used? Why?

Hello La2lura,

Your version is okay, but it makes the reader work a little bit harder. "They could not have been more helpless" is a more clear.

Hi,

"They could've hardly been any more helpless." -- Is that cumbersome?


This sounds OK to me, except that the word order seems very awkward. I'd say


"They could hardly have been any more helpless."


Best wishes, Clive

Hi,

I think the use of 'hardly' changes the overall flow of the sentence, necessitating the use of 'could have' instead of 'could not have'.

He is hardly a super star. -- This means, at least to me, that he doesn't, to the estimation of the person speaking, come close to being called by such a notable title. I think it is close to saying "He is no super star."

Now, in yo