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.
There seems to be some regional variation on this topic, so I will report from my AmE perspective.
In your particular example, either option would be understood to mean the same thing: the speaker works at some point during the course of each weekday (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday).
“From” would probably be omitted in either case as it is not needed to indicate a day range.
Generally speaking, I was always taught to indicate inclusive ranges with the word “through”. This generally has more application in studying mathematics, but could have an impact such as the following:
- Read up through chapter 3.
- Read up to chapter 3.
Receiving instruction #1 with no further clarification, I would read chapters 1, 2, and 3. Instruction #2, on the other hand, presents a quandary. It seems most likely that I’m supposed to read chapters 1 and 2, stopping when I reach the start of chapter 3, and that’s indeed what I would think if I were given no other hint as to the instructor’s wishes.
As you can see there’s a lot of iffiness here, so even among native speakers there is occasionally confusion and/or clarification. A misunderstanding such as the following would not be unheard of:
A: We’ll be on the boat Wednesday to Saturday next week.
B: So you’ll be back on land that Saturday?
A: No, we dock Sunday morning and we’re spending Sunday on the road.
As always, consider your audience and the context. Working those five days is such a common occurrence that neither word is likely to confuse anyone as to what you mean. In other cases, you may wish to add “inclusive” after the range to clarify that the whole of the end-limit you’ve named should be considered part of the deal.
Best Answer
Your first example would be correct if you omit an.
If someone asked you to remove the apple lying on the table, you might reply:
strongly emphasizing the absence of the apple
or, using your second example:
In practice, people would nearly always abbreviate that to:
There is no is frequently used for universal statements, such as:
There is not, frequently abbreviated to there isn't
is generally used to make a simple negative statement or to deny a positive one.
However, in many instances, you can use either construction.