Learn English – the difference between “barely” and ” hardly”

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What is the difference between "barely" and " hardly" ?

Is there any real difference in meaning ? are there any contexts in which one works but not the other ? if yes , give examples please.

For example , If I want to say that given a bad translation of a book . Do we say that the book is translated barely or hardly ? or something else ? why ?

Best Answer

It depends on a context. They both may mean the same thing in example like this -

He can hardly write = He can barely write

But then, if you check all the meanings for both the words, you may come up with an example where the words cannot be interchanged.

Now, when in case where hardly refers to 'almost never', replacing it with barely may not sound natural.

"I hardly go for a social gathering" over "I barely go for..."

Edit after the question is edited:

Yes, I agree with djechilin (+1), use poorly or badly instead. The book is poorly translated.

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