# hard/hardly



## Luci_a

Hi there!

I'm not sure if in this case it would be an adjective or an adverb:

*My father worked hard/hardly in the farm when he was a child.*

What do you think?


Thanks!


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## blasita

Hello.

'Hard' can be both adjective and adverb. Here I suppose you mean 'trabajó duro', so *worked hard* ('hard' is an adverb here); 'hardly' has got a different meaning.

Saludos.


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## donbill

Luci_a said:


> Hi there!
> 
> I'm not sure if in this case it would be an adjective or an adverb:
> 
> *My father worked hard/hardly in the farm when he was a child.*
> 
> What do you think?
> 
> 
> Thanks!



My father worked hard _*on*_ the farm. (hardly = apenas)

Coincido con los comentarios de blasita (#2).


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## johndays24

In that sentence "hard" is the most correct, since is describing (adjective) how he used to work, or how his work was. On the other hand, "hardly", would not be correct since "hardly" means "in a scarce manner", "in a very random way", or simply "barely".

Example:

*My father worked hard in the farm when he was a child.  (Mi padre trabajó duro en la granja cuando era un niño)
My father worked hardly in the farm when he was a child. (Mi padre trabajó raramente en la granja cuando era un niño).*


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## Luci_a

Thank you very much!


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## roanheads

Coincido con los comentarios de " don " y " blasita ".---My father worked hard-- " hard "= adverb which modifies the verb " worked ."

Saludos.


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## blasita

So, would '*in* the farm' be incorrect, then? Thank you.


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## Chris K

In English we sometimes jokingly ask "[are you] working hard or hardly working?," making use of the misleading similarity of the words. "Hardly working" (it's almost never "working hardly") means "not working very hard at all."


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## roanheads

blasita said:


> So, would '*in* the farm' be incorrect, then? Thank you.


In these parts we would usually say " to work on the farm " but " in the farm " is understood.
Saludos.


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## blasita

Thank you very much, Roanheads.


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## Liv_

It was implied Blasita. I don't think it was incorrect.
You can work _on_ something (the farm as in Agriculture for example), and you can work _in_ some place (the farm as a location).


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## blasita

Liv_ said:


> It was implied Blasita. I don't think it was incorrect.
> You can work _on_ something (the farm as in Agriculture for example), and you can work _in_ some place (the farm as a location).



Thanks. What do you mean by 'It was implied', please (what's 'it')? I don't understand what you mean.


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## Liv_

It was implied that since you used _in the farm_ you were referring to the farm as the physical place, and not the 'something' his father was working on.


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## blasita

OK, I see, thanks again. But the fact is that Donbill corrected it, this is why I asked. Prepositions may be very clear and easy for some, but unfortunately, not for me. Saludos y gracias por tu respuesta.


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## Chris K

blasita said:


> OK, I see, thanks again. But the fact is that Donbill corrected it, this is why I asked. Prepositions may be very clear and easy for some, but unfortunately, not for me. Saludos y gracias por tu respuesta.



Prepositions are _never_ clear and easy. They're one of the hardest things for non-native speakers of English to learn, so don't feel bad.


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## blasita

Thanks, Chris.


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## inib

Blasita, just my own personal input, but I would not say "*in* the farm" (as a preposition of place), always *on*. For once, this seems to coincide with (Donbill's) American English!


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## roanheads

Old Macdonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O
And on his farm he had a cow, E-I-E-I-O
With a "moo-moo" here and a "moo-moo" there
Here a "moo" there a "moo"
Everywhere a "moo-moo"
Old Macdonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O.

"On his farm "


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## blasita

Thank you, Inib!

And why wouldn't Macdonald have a cow _in _his farm, Roanheads?  Oh, never mind. Anyway, sorry about this; it's not exactly Luci's question. Saludos a todos.


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## roanheads

Because Old Mac told me so,--- así me gusta y punto.  ( he speaks Spanish )   
Saluditos


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## inib

I can't tell you why, Blasita, because I don't know, but I lived and worked ON a farm intermittently when I was young, and all the work that was done was done ON the farm. Even the "barndances" were ON one farm or another. IN was only used for "IN the farmhouse".


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## blasita

Pues así es, y punto. Muchas gracias, Inib y Roanheads por vuestra paciencia y ayuda. Un saludo.


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## donbill

inib said:


> Blasita, just my own personal input, but I would not say "*in* the farm" (as a preposition of place), always *on*. For once, this seems to coincide with (Donbill's) American English!



Thanks, inib. (I think!). He works *on* the farm, he works *on* the railroad, he works *in* the city, he works *in* the emergency room *at* the hospital *on* Tuesdays and Thursdays, he even works hard *at* doing nothing all day!


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## inib

donbill said:


> Thanks, inib. (I think!). He works *on* the farm, he works *on* the railroad, he works *in* the city, he works *in* the emergency room *at* the hospital *on* Tuesdays and Thursdays, he even works hard *at* doing nothing all day!


¡Qué bien! Suscribo todo lo dicho


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## ribran

inib said:


> Blasita, just my own personal input, but I would not say "*in* the farm" (as a preposition of place), always *on*. For once, this seems to coincide with (Donbill's) American English!



I agree.

_There are five silos on the farm._

but I could easily say, 

_There are eight towers *in* the antenna farm.
There are twenty turbines *in* the wind farm. 


_(Of course, these aren't farms in the traditional sense of the word "farm.")


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## chanquete1

Luci_a said:


> Hi there!
> 
> I'm not sure if in this case it would be an adjective or an adverb:
> 
> *My father worked hard/hardly in the farm when he was a child.*
> 
> What do you think?
> 
> 
> Thanks!


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## chanquete1

Worked hard on the farm. Nevertheless, in the farm can be accepted.


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## JennyTW

I think there is actually a fairly logical explanation. We use "in" when we mean "inside" a closed place, like a building. So we could say "he is working in the farmhouse." But a farm is a large open area, including different buildings, so we can't use "in", but rather "on".


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