596　scarcely，rarely和hardly

① scarcely指数量，强调数量不足。rarely表示“很少”，相当于very seldom，是频率副词。hardly指程度，强调困难极大。另外，scarcely不是频率副词，与rarely性质不同，必须加ever才可作频率副词使用。scarcely ever意为“几乎从未”，相当于hardly ever。

She could hardly walk any farther. 她几乎走不动了。

He spoke scarcely a word of English. 他几乎一句英语都不会说。

He scarcely comes to see me.

He scarcely/hardly ever comes to see me.

他几乎不来看我。

He rarely/seldom comes to see me. 他很少来看我。

② scarcely和hardly与before或when连用，结构为：主语+had scarcely/hardly+过去分词+before/when从句，表示“一……就”。

我一完工他就来了。

I had scarcely/hardly finished my work when he came.

提示

scarcely，hardly，no sooner位于句首时，要用倒装结构。

Scarcely/Hardly had we arrived before we had to go back. 我们刚一到就又得赶回来。