Scarcely

Scarcely means ‘almost not at all’. It is quite formal. It usually comes in the normal mid position for adverbs (between the subject and the main verb, or after the modal verb or first auxiliary verb, or after be as a main verb):

We scarcely had time to think and had to act immediately.

These days there is scarcely a week without a major political scandal. (after be)

I could scarcely believe that she had once killed someone. (after modal could = I could almost not believe it at all)

We can also use scarcely when something happens immediately after something else:

Lena had scarcely got through the door when the phone rang. It was Mrs Bate. (Lena entered the house; the phone rang immediately.)

If we use scarcely in front position, we invert the subject and the verb. This usage is quite formal:

Scarcelyhadthe demonstration started when trouble broke out and the police moved in to arrest people.

In all of the examples above, we can use hardly instead of scarcely. Scarcely is more formal and less common than hardly.