"Je n'ai guère d'amis." means I hardly have any friends'

chris w.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

"Je n'ai guère d'amis." means I hardly have any friends'

I think the native speaker would say 'I have hardly any' rather than 'I hardly have any'. 'Hardly any' is an expression, I think.

This question relates to:French lesson "Ne … guère = Hardly ever (French Negations)"

Asked 3 years ago

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CécileKwiziq Native French TeacherCorrect answer

Hi Chris,

Having spoken to our English specialists, both 'I have hardly any' and 'I hardly have any' are correct but the latter is a bit more colloquial and very, very common.

Like13 years ago

chris w. asked:

"Je n'ai guère d'amis." means I hardly have any friends'

I think the native speaker would say 'I have hardly any' rather than 'I hardly have any'. 'Hardly any' is an expression, I think.

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