Word · CEFR A1 · Frequency #291
little
极少；几乎不
Not much.
- 1.
Not much.
不多的。
- 2.
Not at all.
一点也不。
一点也不；毫不；不多的。；一点也不。；很少；稍微
In use
She ate very little at dinner because she wasn't feeling well.
He little knows how much his words hurt others.
The project has changed little despite all the discussions.
Little did + subject + know + that-clause
否定副词 little 位于句首时，句子用部分倒装；语气较书面，表示“一点也不、完全不”。
Little did she know that the meeting had been cancelled.
她完全不知道会议已经取消了。
little + past participle/adjective
修饰形容词或过去分词时，little 表示程度低，相当于“几乎不、不大”。
The new drug is little known to the public.
这种新药在公众中鲜为人知。
verb + little
little 修饰实义动词时通常放在动词后，表示“很少、不多”；更口语的说法是 very little。
He ate little at dinner and went to bed early.
他晚餐吃得很少，然后早早睡了。
less + adjective + than
less 是 little 的比较级形式之一，用于表示程度更低。
This task is less difficult than the last one.
这个任务没有上一个那么难。
Common mistakes
She sleeps little than I do.She sleeps less than I do.
表示“比……少”时，little 要用比较级 less，不能把原级 little 与 than 连用。把 little 改为 less 才能构成正确的比较结构。
Little I knew that the problem was so serious.Little did I know that the problem was so serious.
否定意义的 little 置于句首时，句子要用部分倒装：没有助动词时要加 did，并把主动词改回原形（Little did I know...）。原句主语和谓语顺序未变，不符合这一规则。
Connections
Collocations
- little more than
- 只不过；几乎和……一样
- The problem is little more than a misunderstanding.这个问题只不过是个误解。
- little short of
- 几乎；简直是
- The rescue was little short of a miracle.这次营救简直是个奇迹。
- think little of
- 不重视；认为……没什么了不起
- He thinks little of his opponent's abilities.他看不起对手的能力。
- care little
- 不太在乎；毫不在意
- She cares little for material possessions.她不太在乎物质财富。
- know little
- 知之甚少；不太了解
- Scientists still know little about the deep ocean.科学家对深海仍然知之甚少。
- little known
Learner notes
Memory Tip
little=小→少：副词时‘很少、几乎不’，搭配否定时‘一点也不’。联想‘小小一点’其实少得可怜。
Context & Register
语域：formal 常见场景：formal prose、literary narrative、rhetorical writing 作副词时，little 通常用于正式或书面语，表示“不多；几乎不”；在“little did + 主语 + 动词”这类倒装句中则表示“一点也不、毫不”。日常口语里多说 not much 或 not at all，用 little 会显得比较书面或带有文学色彩。
Grammar Note
用于动词或形容词前，表示‘很少’或‘几乎没有’
Pronunciation & Spelling
The words above — whittle, skittle, brittle, spittle, and belittle — rhyme with little: their stressed vowel is /ɪ/ and the following unstressed syllable is /təl/. Warning: don't trust the spelling in lookalikes like bottle /ˈbɒtəl/, kettle /ˈkɛtəl/, settle /ˈsɛtəl/, and beetle /ˈbiːtəl/; they look similar but have different vowel sounds. Also, littoral /ˈlɪtərəl/ shares the first syllable but has an extra syllable.
High-value vocabulary
该词属于 Oxford 核心词汇，值得优先掌握常见搭配和句型。
Usage priority
Collins 词频等级为 5，建议结合例句记忆，而不是只背中文释义。
Learn the forms together
页面下方列出了常见词形变化。学习时注意它们在句子中的语法位置。
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, WIKTIONARY.