Hardly ever

Question

Sir, I have to insert this adverb(hardly ever) in the given sentence. 1.He is on time.(given sentence) 2.He is hardly ever on time. Is (2) correct? Thanks.

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

Yes, nice positioning-- right after the operator.

Hanuman_2000 · Answer

Sir,

I could not understand the meaning of "right after the operator".

thanks.

Mister Micawber · Answer

Well, it's not really an operator-- it's the 'be' verb; sorry. An operator is the part of a verb phrase that changes tense/person:

'He must certainly be mad'-- operator is 'must' and adverb most commonly goes right after it.
'I have never gone skiing' -- operator is 'have'
'We are waiting for you' -- operator is 'are'

With simple tenses:

'I never see you any more'
'I often grabbed a sandwich at the convenience store'-- adverb after the single-word simple verb.

With copulatives:

'I am never seasick.'
'He was forever in my way.' -- adverb normally comes after the simple verb.
('They have consistently been unhappy -- back to an operator, 'have'.)

Just the truth · Answer

Adverbs are highly mobile. The positioning that Mr M described so well represents the normal neutral position of adverbs. Moved to other locations, they create nuances. Some of these can be quite different, most probably just intensify a bit.

Hardly ever

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