hardly / at all / hardly at all

ELM   Sun Mar 23, 2008 2:59 am GMT
hi ,

would you please explain abou diffrences of these sentences :

I can hardly move my leg

I can move my leg at all

I can hardly move my leg at all
Humble   Sun Mar 23, 2008 6:57 am GMT
I think #2 should be "I can't move my leg at all".
I'd range the possibility to move the leg this way:
1. #2 - absolutely impossible
2. #3 - almost impossible
3. #1 - possible, but very difficult.
Guest   Sun Mar 23, 2008 8:06 am GMT
I can hardly move my leg ~ I can move it but not very much, it's hard
I can't move my leg at all ~ I cannot move my leg, full stop
I can hardly move my leg at all ~ same as the first, but slightly more emphatic
RayH   Sun Mar 23, 2008 3:22 pm GMT
As presented the second one (I can move my leg at all) is wrong. You would never say this, it just doesn't make sense.

If you meant to type "I *can't* move my leg at all" it would be correct.
Call me CX   Mon Mar 24, 2008 3:49 am GMT
In addition to what the previous posters have said, you CAN make use of the interrogative form in the second case, as in "can you move your leg at all?".

Furthermore, the third sentence looks redundant. "I can hardly move my leg" would sound a lot better and it's a lot more common.