Which should you use, hard hit, hardly hit, hit hard or hit hardly? The construction be hard hit or be hit hard means to be very badly affected by something. The adverb hardly is a negative word meaning almost not or only just. Be hardly hit does not mean the same as be hard hit or be hit hard.
| Incorrect: |
Residents watch volunteers clean an area that was hardly hit by floods.
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| Correct: |
Residents watch volunteers clean an area that was hard hit by floods.
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| Incorrect: |
Turkey was hit hardly by the global financial crisis.
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| Correct: |
Turkey was hit hard by the global financial crisis.
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