Question

Read the sentence below and find out which part contains an error. If there is no error, the answer is "No error".

The sun hadn't hardly (a) set when the mosquitoes began to sting (b) so annoyingly that we had (c) to run off from the playground. (d)

• A. The sun hadn't hardly
• B. set when the mosquitoes began to sting
• C. so annoyingly that we had
• D. to run off from the playground.

Hint:

Remember that "hardly" is already negative, so check if it has been paired with another negative word.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

This sentence describes how quickly the mosquitoes started biting after sunset, and we need to check the grammar of the negative expression used at the start.

1. The sun hadn't hardly: "Hardly" already carries a negative meaning on its own, similar to "barely" or "scarcely". Adding "hadn't" before it creates a double negative, which is not correct in standard English. The correct form is "The sun had hardly set".
2. set when the mosquitoes began to sting: This part correctly uses "when" to link the two events happening close together in time, so it has no error.
3. so annoyingly that we had: "So...that" is the correct structure for describing a result, so this part is fine.
4. to run off from the playground.: This closes the sentence correctly and needs no change.

The error lies in part (a), "The sun hadn't hardly", because "hardly" is already a negative word, and pairing it with "hadn't" creates an incorrect double negative.

Let's summarize:

• Words like "hardly", "scarcely" and "barely" are negative in meaning on their own and should not be used with another negative word like "not" or "hadn't".
• The correct version of the sentence begins with "The sun had hardly set", not "hadn't hardly set".

So the correct option is (a), "The sun hadn't hardly".