Hardly- inverted order?

[tommy]

Do we use an inverted order after "hardly".
Would "Hardly nobody did come to my party" be a proper form? Does "hardly nobody" mean almost nobody?
Thank you,
Tom

[Alan]

Hi tommy,

It depends which word hardly is qualifying. There would be normal order in your sentence: Hardly anyone came ...because hardly qualifies anyone (a pronoun). You would say hardly anybody because it means almost no one. If you put hardly at the beginning of the sentence and it qualifies a verb (action) then you would change the order as in:

Hardly had I opened the door when ...

Alan
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[Guest]

OK, thank you very much.
It's all clear now.
Tommy

[Jamie (K)]

In North America we would not start a sentence with "hardly" and invert the word order. We would probably use the word "barely" in that sentence. "Barely had I opened the door, when..." I think the British can use that word too.

The other words used for inversion are the same on both continents, as far as I know. However, if you use "hardly" and invert the auxiliary, and then some American tells you the word isn't used that way, just remember that he isn't wrong and you're not wrong either.

[Guest]

Thank you Jamie for your help!
That's the kind of knowledge I couldn't find in any book.
Tommy