The following sentence has been split into four segments. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error.
They worked / very hardly / on their project / for several weeks.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
The correct answer is option 3 i.e. very hardly.
Error concept: Wrong adverb usage.
What is wrong: The phrase “very hardly” is incorrect because hardly means barely / almost not. It changes the meaning and does not fit here.
Grammatical concept:
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Hard = with effort (correct form: They worked very hard).
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Hardly = scarcely / almost not (different meaning, wrong in this context).
Incorrectness of the concept in context: Using “hardly” makes the sentence mean They barely worked on their project, which is not intended.
How to correct: Replace “very hardly” with “very hard.”
Correct phrase/ correction: very hard
Final sentence: They worked very hard on their project for several weeks.
Hence, the chosen option is correct.