Choose the most suitable option to replace the highlighted part of the sentence:
The speaker had been hardly audible due to disturbance.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
The correct answer is option 2 i.e. barely audible due to the disturbance.
Error concept: Redundancy and word choice in negative adverbs.
What is wrong: While 'hardly' is grammatically possible, it often refers to the degree of an action. When describing the physical quality of sound that is difficult to hear, 'barely' is the more precise and common adverb. Furthermore, 'disturbance' is a specific event in this context, so it requires the definite article 'the' to be idiomatic.
Grammatical concept: Adverbs of degree like 'hardly,' 'barely,' and 'scarcely' are used to mean 'only just.' However, in the context of sensory perception (hearing, seeing), 'barely' is preferred to emphasize the threshold of audibility.
Incorrectness of the concept in context: The original phrase 'hardly audible' sounds slightly unnatural in formal descriptions of technical interference, and 'due to disturbance' lacks the necessary article for a countable noun referring to a specific instance of noise.
How to correct: Replace 'hardly' with 'barely' and add the definite article 'the' before 'disturbance.'
Correct phrase/ correction: barely audible due to the disturbance
Final sentence: The speaker had been barely audible due to the disturbance.
Hence, the chosen option is correct.