Consider the following sentences:(i) After his surgery, Raja hardly could walk.(ii) After his surgery, Raja could barely walk.(iii) After his surgery, Raja barely could walk.(iv) After his surgery, Raja could hardly walk.Q. Which of the above sentences are grammatically CORRECT?a)iii and ivb)i and iiic)ii and ivd)i and iiCorrect answer is option 'C'. Can you explain this answer?

Question

Answer

Explanation:

The correct sentences are (ii) and (iv):
(ii) After his surgery, Raja could barely walk.
(iv) After his surgery, Raja could hardly walk.

Explanation:

The word 'hardly' and 'barely' are adverbs that have similar meanings. They both indicate that someone can only do something to a small degree or with great difficulty. However, there is a slight difference in usage between 'hardly' and 'barely' when used with modal verbs like 'could.'

Usage of 'hardly':

When 'hardly' is used with a modal verb, it is normally placed before the modal verb, as shown in sentence (iv). This indicates that the action described by the modal verb is difficult or almost impossible to perform.

Example:
After his surgery, Raja could hardly walk. (Correct)

Usage of 'barely':

When 'barely' is used with a modal verb, it is normally placed after the modal verb, as shown in sentence (ii). This also indicates that the action described by the modal verb is difficult or almost impossible to perform.

Example:
After his surgery, Raja could barely walk. (Correct)

Incorrect sentences:

(i) After his surgery, Raja hardly could walk. (Incorrect)
(iii) After his surgery, Raja barely could walk. (Incorrect)

Both sentence (i) and (iii) are grammatically incorrect because they violate the usual placement of 'hardly' and 'barely' when used with modal verbs. In sentence (i), 'hardly' should be placed before 'could,' and in sentence (iii), 'barely' should be placed after 'could.'

Summary:

The correct sentences are (ii) and (iv), as they follow the correct placement of the adverbs 'hardly' and 'barely' when used with modal verbs. Sentence (i) and (iii) are incorrect because they violate this placement.

Answer

Key Points:

(i) In the above given options, option 2 and 4 are grammatically correct.

(ii) It is so because 'barely' and 'hardly' here are adverbs which are qualifying the verb 'walk'.

(iii) Barely(adverb) - only just; almost not.
For Example - She nodded, barely able to speak.

(iv) Hardly(adverb) - scarcely (used to qualify a statement by saying that it is true to an insignificant degree).
For Example - The little house in which he lived was hardly bigger than a hut.

Thus, they need to be used before 'walk' to qualify it.

Therefore, the correct sentences are ii and iv.

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