Is it right to say "Try harder"

Question

I want say to somebody to try more in studying English. Is it right to say Try harder

Yes. What do you think the alternative is? Hopefully, not try more hardly? — Peter Shor, Mar 09 '16 at 18:28

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 09 '16 at 18:31

Well, this is definitely used quite commonly.

"Hardly" wouldn't be correct, as it has an entirely different meaning - you certainly don't want your English students to be 'hardly trying.' Ironically, this would mean exactly the opposite of what you're trying to express here.

'Harder' is the comparative form of 'hard,' which has the same form as an adverb that it does as an adjective. We push harder, we try harder, and we fight harder, in the same way that we run faster, drive faster, and move faster. We don't do anything 'fastly.'

These are just some notable exceptions to the '-ly' adverb rule.

So to answer, yes. It is correct.

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 09 '16 at 18:32

Yes, it is grammatically correct. Hard is an unusual adverb. It has several meanings, but it is commonly used to mean intensely. So harder means more intensely. You might sound less casual if you said, "You should study English more intensely".

Is it right to say "Try harder"

2 Answers2