何况

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 这点小事大人都难做到,何况孩子?▶ —
   Even adults find this small thing hard, let alone children.
2. 他连普通话都说不好,更何况外语。▶ —
   He can’t even speak Mandarin well, let alone a foreign language.

Collocations

Mnemonic

何 hé "how" + 况 kuàng "moreover": "let alone, much less". A connective stressing that what holds for an easier case holds even more for a harder one, often in "连 … 都 …, 何况 …". Strengthened as 更何况.

Related

Quick check

1. How is 何况 used?

   • even the easy case is so, let alone the harder one
   • two things are equal
   • reversing time order
   • asking for a cause