What does "hardly ever" mean?

lunablau

I came across this question today in an English placement test. Possible answers:

a) never
b) sometimes

I picked a but now I'm thinking it should probably have been b, although I don't think either answer is quite correct.

Any thoughts?

It's not "never"

vandriver

Has to be B

Realt Dearg Sec

, although "nearly never" would be a closer description.

frag420

Almost never...

J Mysterio

'B', because it leaves open the possibility of something happening. 'Hardly ever' entails something could still happen, sometime. A rare occurence.

'Never' is definitive in that nothing will ever happen. Hard luck.

tracey turnblad

In my opinion it would mean sometimes. Never is finite, sometimes and hardly ever arent

lunablau

Okay, the question was actually more like this:

"I hardly ever see you":

a) I never see you
b) I sometimes see you.

Still B?

frag420

lunablau wrote: »

Okay, the question was actually more like this:

"I hardly ever see you":

a) I never see you
b) I sometimes see you.

Still B?

Yes

J Mysterio

Still B.

Buckfast W

Hardly ever is an adverb of frequency, its basically just one step above never.

LionelNashe

lunablau wrote: »

Okay, the question was actually more like this:

"I hardly ever see you":

a) I never see you
b) I sometimes see you.

Still B?

In that case, I'd say A, because if you said 'I never see you' to somebody, it wouldn't mean literally 'never'. It would mean hardly ever. The meaning depends on the whole sentence, and how it's normally used, as opposed to what the single words mean in a dictionary.

looksee

LionelNashe wrote: »

In that case, I'd say A, because if you said 'I never see you' to somebody, it wouldn't mean literally 'never'. It would mean hardly ever. The meaning depends on the whole sentence, and how it's normally used, as opposed to what the single words mean in a dictionary.

That would only work the other way round. If someone said 'I never see you' you could assume they meant 'I hardly ever see you'. You can't do it the opposite way round though.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

LionelNashe wrote: »

In that case, I'd say A, because if you said 'I never see you' to somebody, it wouldn't mean literally 'never'. It would mean hardly ever. The meaning depends on the whole sentence, and how it's normally used, as opposed to what the single words mean in a dictionary.

Sorry, but that makes no sense.

I hardly ever see you means, and has always meant, that I seldom/rarely/sometimes see you. Hardly ever is not Never. One of the definitions of Hardly is used to emphasize a minimal amount

LionelNashe

looksee wrote: »

That would only work the other way round. If someone said 'I never see you' you could assume they meant 'I hardly ever see you'. You can't do it the opposite way round though.

Oh yeah, good point.

Edit: Just to add, I'd agree with the OP that neither answer is quite correct (at least not as the question has been presented above.)

lunablau

LionelNashe wrote: »

Edit: Just to add, I'd agree with the OP that neither answer is quite correct (at least not as the question has been presented above.)

The context is a conversation about exercise where one person says to another:
"I didn't know you liked going to the gym, I hardly ever see you there!"

If I were ever to use the phrase "hardly ever" myself in this context, as a non-native speaker, it would actually mean "never".

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

lunablau wrote: »

The context is a conversation about exercise where one person says to another:
"I didn't know you liked going to the gym, I hardly ever see you there!"

If I would ever use the phrase "hardly ever" myself in this context, as a non-native speaker, it would actually mean "never".

Then you would be wrong. Hardly ever, in this context, means rarely or only sometimes, but certainly not a definitive never.

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

grogi

lunablau wrote: »

I came across this question today in an English placement test. Possible answers:

a) never
b) sometimes

I picked a but now I'm thinking it should probably have been b, although I don't think either answer is quite correct.

Any thoughts?

It means very very rarely. So it is more sometimes than never.

looksee

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

They are if the alternative is 'never'. The question did not have three options so the answer is 'sometimes'.

Mearings

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

I hardly ever answer a question when there is a choice of only 2 answers.

Day Lewin

Hardly ever = rarely