問 1
When I came home very late last night, there was ( ) any fresh food left at all in the nearly empty refrigerator, so we simply had to order a pizza for our dinner.
- nearly
- quite
- almost
- hardly
hardly any (ほとんど〜ない)
hardly any + 名詞 = 「ほとんど〜ない」。hardly 自体が準否定なので not 不要。
「hardly」
正解"When I came home very late last night, there was ( ) any fresh food left at all in the nearly empty refrigerator, so we simply had to order a pizza for our dinner" は準否定 = 「hardly」。形: hardly any + 名詞 = 「ほとんど〜ない」。hardly は副詞でそれ自体が否定の意味、not と併用しない。ポイント: hardly any = almost no。hardly は否定語なので動詞は肯定形 (there was hardly any ✓、wasn't hardly ✗ 二重否定)。2級頻出: hardly/scarcely/barely の準否定語と any の collocation が頻出。
「almost」
= almost any ✗ ━ 「どれでも」の意 ━ almost any = ほとんどどれでも (肯定)、否定は hardly any。
「nearly」
= nearly any ✗ ━ 語法違反 ━ nearly any は不可、準否定は hardly any。
「quite」
= quite any ✗ ━ 語法違反 ━ quite any は不可、ほとんどない は hardly any。
| 形 | マーカー | 例 |
|---|---|---|
| hardly any + 名詞 | ほとんどない | hardly any money |
| hardly ever | めったに〜ない | I hardly ever eat out. |
| can hardly + 原形 | ほとんど〜できない | I can hardly hear you. |
| hardly + 肯定動詞 | 二重否定回避 | There is hardly any (✓) |
| 文型 | 形 | 例 |
|---|---|---|
| 量 | hardly any + 名詞 | There is hardly any milk. |
| 頻度 | hardly ever + V | She hardly ever complains. |
| 能力 | can hardly + V | I could hardly believe it. |
When I came home very late last night, there was hardly any fresh food left at all in the nearly empty refrigerator, so we simply had to order a pizza for our dinner.
昨夜とても遅く帰宅したとき、ほぼ空の冷蔵庫には新鮮な食べ物がほとんど残っていなかったので、夕食はピザを注文するしかなかった。
The shy new student hardly ever speaks during the busy class, but his written essays are always surprisingly thoughtful and clever.
内気な新入生は賑やかな授業中めったに話さないが、彼の書く小論文はいつも驚くほど思慮深く巧みだ。
The tired old man spoke so very quietly that we could hardly hear a single word he was trying to say to us.
疲れた老人があまりに静かに話したので、私たちは彼が言おうとする言葉をほとんど一言も聞き取れなかった。
There were hardly any customers in the small shop on that cold rainy morning, so the owner closed early.
その寒い雨の朝、小さな店には客がほとんどいなかったので、店主は早く閉めた。
My grandmother has hardly changed at all over the years, and she still looks as healthy and cheerful as ever.
祖母は長年の間ほとんど変わっておらず、相変わらず健康で陽気に見える。
hardly any (2級 頻出) ★ 「ほとんどない」━ hardly は準否定副詞、not 不要。二重否定回避 ★ wasn't hardly ✗ / was hardly ✓。関連 ★ hardly ever = めったに〜ない / can hardly = ほとんど〜できない。