hardly attain

USAGE SUMMARY

"hardly attain" is correct and usable in written English. You can use it to express that something is very difficult to achieve or reach. Example: "With such limited resources, we can hardly attain our goals." Alternative expressions include "barely achieve" and "struggle to reach."

✓ Grammatically correct

Science

News & Media

Encyclopedias

Wiki

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

1 human-written examples

The thin films show strong characteristic anisotropy that the solid one could hardly attain.

International Journal of Solids and Structures

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

59 human-written examples

Due to changes in temperature, precipitation and vegetation/edaphic patterns such equilibrium is hardly attained and soil P reactions must dynamically adjust to present conditions.

Geoderma

It is evident that for a such yield drift, the beam plastic rotation capacity θ p of 0.015 rads is hardly attained, because of the code restrictions on the maximum story drifts.

International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials

Carved lacquer of this period, though far from negligible, hardly attains to the rich colour, breadth, and simplicity of that of the Ming period.

Encyclopedia Britannica

The thin film shows strong characteristic anisotropy that the solid one hardly can attain.

European Journal of Mechanics - A-Solids

This perfection could hardly be attained by an individual assessing the patient.

Critical Care

Also, I know complete reproducibility is a Nirvana state, hardly ever attained in practice, but I appreciate the SW source code is available.

F1000Research

Nonetheless, the volumetric yield of SAM is low as most of the strains belonged to Saccharomyces cerevisiae and were hardly able to attain high cell density using minimal media (Shobayashi et al. 2006).

AMB Express

Using health diplomacy to attain soft power has hardly been a strategy exclusive to the Bush presidency or the Republican party, however.

Globalization and Health

This was hardly unexpected; I only attained my PhD recently and I hadn't really expected to be successful.

The Guardian

This is hardly surprising: after all, by design, only a small percentage of the total passengers are supposed to attain a privileged tier.

Journal of Big Data

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

Use this phrase in formal or scientific contexts to describe limits of physical properties, theoretical equilibrium or highly ambitious goals.

Common error

Avoid using "hardly" with other negative words like "not" or "never" (e.g. "could not hardly attain"). Because "hardly" already carries a negative meaning, adding another negative creates a double negative, which is considered incorrect in standard English.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "hardly attain" functions as a modified verbal construction where the adverb "hardly" acts as a minimizer. According to Ludwig AI, it is used to express that an action is performed with such extreme difficulty that it is almost not performed at all. It typically modifies an infinitive or follows a modal verb like "could" or "can".

Expression frequency: Rare

Frequent in

Science

55%

News & Media

25%

Encyclopedias

10%

Less common in

Wiki

5%

Social Media

3%

Reference

2%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, "hardly attain" is a sophisticated phrase used to denote the significant difficulty or near-impossibility of reaching a certain state or goal. Ludwig AI shows that while the exact string is relatively rare compared to its past-participle form "hardly attained", it remains a staple in academic and scientific literature. It is most frequently used to describe physical properties in engineering or biological systems that are difficult to replicate. Writers should be careful to avoid double negatives when using this phrase and ensure that "hardly" is placed correctly before the verb "attain". It serves as a more formal alternative to phrases like "barely get" or "almost never reach".

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

barely achieve

Emphasizes the narrow margin by which something is accomplished.

seldom reach

Shifts focus to the frequency of achieving the result.

rarely accomplish

Suggests that the completion of the task happens very infrequently.

scarcely realize

A more literary or formal way to describe a struggle to make something a reality.

hardly ever reach

Adds a temporal element suggesting the outcome almost never occurs.

struggle to meet

Highlights the effort and difficulty involved in the process.

difficult to acquire

Focuses on the hardness of gaining possession or a specific state.

barely manage to get

Focuses on the effort and management required to succeed slightly.

unlikely to hit

More informal, often used in business or sports contexts regarding targets.

fail to reach

A more direct and negative outcome than the near-miss implied by hardly.

FAQs

How do I use "hardly attain" in a sentence?

You can use it to describe something that is almost impossible to reach. For example, "Such a high level of efficiency is something a standard engine can "hardly attain" without modifications."

What is the difference between "hardly attain" and "barely achieve"?

While very similar, "barely achieve" often implies that the goal was reached by a tiny margin, whereas "hardly attain" suggests a stronger difficulty or even the impossibility of reaching it.

Can I say "attain hardly" instead?

No, in English adverbs of degree like "hardly" almost always precede the verb they modify. Saying "attain hardly" would sound unnatural to native speakers.

Is "hardly attain" formal enough for academic writing?

Yes, it is perfectly suitable. Alternatives like "seldom reach" or "rarely attain" are also common in scholarly journals provided by Ludwig.