ESL Grammar

*Be careful! Some adverbs can be very confusing:

The word hardly means the opposite of hard, or “barely.”

• David hit me hard! (It hurts a lot!)
• David hardly hit me! (It doesn’t hurt at all.)

(Sometimes people greet each other by saying, “Are you working hard, or hardly working.” What do you think this means?)

The word lately means “recently.”

• Vicky was late to school today. (She was not early.)
• Vicky has been tired lately. (She has been tired recently - for a few days or weeks.)

Fill in the blanks with hard, hardly, late, or lately.

1. Jenna is working very _______________ right now, so please don’t bother her.

2. Jason is _______________ working right now, so you can bother him if you want.

3. I have been taking many tests ________________, so I have been studying very hard.

4. I came to class _______________ because my mother drives too slowly.

5. It’s _______________ raining, so I think I will walk to school.

6. It’s raining too _______________! Can you drive me to school today?

7. I have been working late _______________, so I haven’t had enough time to sleep.

8. James ________________ studies for his tests, so his grades are getting worse and worse.