I'd like to know when should we use "rarely" and "hardly" and "seldom". Can we use these adverbs in the same situation? Or do we need to follow some criteria for using those different adverbs?
Learn English – When do we use “rarely, hardly, seldom”
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Best Answer
"Rarely" and "seldom" are synonymous and interchangeable, used to indicate low frequency.
"Hardly" is not used to indicate infrequency (unless you say "hardly ever," which is synonymous with the other two) but rather the extent of a quality, as it is synonymous with "barely." For example:
...meaning you could only just see the light, as compared to:
...meaning you could only see the light sometimes, irrespective of how bright it was.