hardly/scarcely/barely

[navi tasan]

1-There were hardly 60 people there.
2-There were scarcely 60 people there.
3-There were barely 60 people there.

Which of the above sentences correspond to which of the below:

a-There were at most 60 people there
b-There were not even 60 people there
c-There were definitely fewer than 60 people there
d-The number of the people there was not even close to 60

 

[J&K Tutoring]

navi-
As a Senior Member, you should know how things work 'round here...

 

[navi tasan]

I am sorry but I don't understand what you mean. I think I have asked a relatively simple question regarding the usage of certain words in the English language. The answer could be given by associating one or more letters to each number.

I don't see what the problem is.

Respectfully.
Navi.

 

[Tdol]

1-There were hardly 60 people there.
2-There were scarcely 60 people there.
3-There were barely 60 people there.

Which of the above sentences correspond to which of the below:

a-There were at most 60 people there
b-There were not even 60 people there
c-There were definitely fewer than 60 people there
d-The number of the people there was not even close to 60

The problem I have with the choices is that I expect the numbers to be under 60, making b) the closest, but if they weren't counted carefully there's still a chance that they could be slightly over 60. How the number 60 was arrived at is important to the degree of certainty IMO. If I knew for certain, I would probably use under 60. Intonation could affect things and the context:

A: There were 60 people there.
B: There were hardly 60 people there.
In contradicting, depending on intonation, the person could be saying d), though I'd say this is the least likely of the possibilities looking at the sentences in isolation.

navi-
As a Senior Member, you should know how things work 'round here...

Navi is a long-standing member and always posts questions like this. It's not homework or anything- they're questions digging away at tiny variations, subtleties and shades of meaning. The threads tend to follow more or less the same format- language samples and question, then Navi gets involved in the discussions that follow.

 

[5jj]

The problem I have with the others is that I expect the numbers to be under 60,

I don't agree. For me,

1-There were hardly 60 people there.
2-There were scarcely 60 people there.
3-There were barely 60 people there.

all suggest the idea that there were definitely no more than 60 but that there were possibly 60. a is my answer.

meaning no. 3 of 'barely' in the OALD is 'just, certainly not more than (a particular age, amount, time, etc)'.

 

[navi tasan]

Thank you all.
Apparently there was a misunderstanding. I couldn't even figure out what was going on. Thanks Tdol!

 

[Tdol]

I don't agree.

You've convinced me- I don't think I agree with me either. ;-)