I came across these sentences in Oxford Dictionary where it says we can say the sentence 1 but not 2. Sentence 3 was written by me in order to compare.
She hardly (ever) sees her parents these days.
She barely sees her parents these days.
She scarcely sees her parents these days.
I'd like to ask why. My understanding is that the second sentence implies that as if there is a physical obstacle between ( the girl and her parents) them like maybe a long and wide walls so it does not make sense.
I'd like to compare two these sentences so as to make sure I got them right.
For example :
They hardly do exercise.
( what is your first impression? For example because they don't have time to do exercise etc.)
They barely do exercise
( If this sentence makes a sense ,what is your first impression? Could you infer from the sentence that they cannot do exercise even though they want because there is a physical problem with their bodies)