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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。
极少；几乎不
先理解核心含义，再看它在真实句子里的用法。
极少；几乎不
Not much.
Little did she know that the meeting had been cancelled.
她完全不知道会议已经取消了。
不多的。
Not much.
一点也不。
Not at all.
She ate very little at dinner because she wasn't feeling well.
她晚餐吃得很少，因为她感觉不舒服。
He little knows how much his words hurt others.
他几乎不知道自己的话有多伤人。
The project has changed little despite all the discussions.
尽管经过多次讨论，这个项目几乎没变。
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。
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。
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 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。
Not this
She sleeps little than I do.
Use this
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。
Not this
Little I knew that the problem was so serious.
Use this
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。
Focus on the distinctions below. Other candidates are kept compact until a reliable usage note is available.
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。
几乎；简直是
The rescue was little short of a miracle.
这次营救简直是个奇迹。
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。
不太在乎；毫不在意
She cares little for material possessions.
她不太在乎物质财富。
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。
鲜为人知的；几乎不为人知的
She is a little-known painter from the 19th century.
她是十九世纪一位鲜为人知的画家。
渐渐地；一点一点地
Little by little, the snow melted.
雪渐渐地融化了。
非常；很
She was not a little surprised at the news.
她听到这个消息非常惊讶。
我毫不知情；我哪里知道
Little did I know that the meeting had been canceled.
我一点也不知道会议已经取消了。
比亲人更亲近，却又算不上真正的亲人。
Spoken by Hamlet in Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' (Act 1, Scene 2), this line is an aside about King Claudius. Here 'little' is used as an adverb meaning 'somewhat' or 'not much', and the phrase plays on 'kin' (family) and 'kind' (family/kind-hearted).
这是莎士比亚《哈姆雷特》第一幕第二场中哈姆莱特的一句旁白，暗指克劳狄斯国王。这里的“little”作副词，意为“略微、不多”，且整句话利用“kin”（亲属）和“kind”（亲人/仁慈）构成双关。
Use little naturally, then get feedback on meaning, tone, grammar, and phrasing.
Revisit a common error or keep this word in your review list.
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。
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。
用于动词或形容词前，表示‘很少’或‘几乎没有’
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, WIKTIONARY.