■ less

1) 在一个否定句及逗号之后，even less, much less, still less 不是“更少”、“少得多”，而是“更不”。

• I'm not blaming anyone, much less you.我不是责怪谁，更不是责怪你。
• The cloud of treason hanging over him was enough to guarantee that no one ever trusted, much less listened to him ever again.悬在他头上的背叛乌云，已足以保证谁也不会再信任他，更不会再听他的。

2) no less 表示“同样”。

• The book is no less helpful.那本书也同样有帮助。
• It is surely no less clear that...肯定同样明显的是…
• Lack of economic security is no less a threat than terrorism.缺乏经济上的安全，其威胁不下于恐怖主义。

3) no less 放在句末或句中，有表示惊讶的“竟然”的意思。

• He won the Nobel prize, no less!他竟然得到了诺贝尔奖！
• She married a millionaire, no less!她居然嫁给了一个百万富翁！

放在句中时，后面要有 than。

• He has invited no less a person than the President himself.他居然邀请了总统本人。

4) no less 作为代词，表示“不可以打折扣的需要”。

• The American people deserve no less from our leaders today.美国人民今天有权要求他们的领导人不折不扣地做到上述要求。
• My readers expect no less.我的读者们在等着看好东西呢。

5) less than 放在形容词前面，有略微减弱的否定意义。

• But the Agency had been less than helpful.但是中情局没有起多大作用。
• ... and several of the Republican candidates seem less than eager to hire them as advisers. (Newsweek, Oct. 15, 2007, p.36)…好几个共和党候选人看来并不那么急于要聘用他们来当顾问。

6) 表示“多一个”是 one more + 名词；“少一个”是 one less + 名词。例如：最近美国有人发明了一种疫苗，给女孩子接种，长大后可以避免子宫颈癌，于是有的医药公司就登广告说：

• Your daughter could become one less life affected by cervic cancer.您的女儿可以成为又一个生活不受子宫颈癌影响的人。

美国马里兰州有一个专门提倡骑自行车和步行的群众组织，名字就叫做 One Less Car（少一辆汽车）。

• It seems like there are so many reasons not to fly these days if you don't have to: security hassles, poor service, cramped and crowded planes, lost luggage. But when I saw that United Airlines had announced a new partnership with world-renowned restaurateur and legendary chef Charlie Trotter, it sounded like there might be one less reason to avoid it—airline food.似乎除非不得已，不坐飞机的理由多得很：安全检查的麻烦啦，服务太差啦，飞机太局促拥挤啦，行李容易丢失啦。不过，我看到了联合航空公司宣布它新近同世界闻名的餐饮业专家和有口皆碑的名厨查理·特罗特结盟，这个消息听起来，避免坐飞机的理由或许少了一条：空中饮食。

但是如果着重点不在数目本身，或是数目只有比喻意义，也可以把名词放在 one 和 less 之间。

• One man less would be one soldier less.(Emile Zola, Germinal)少了一个男人就等于少了一个士兵。
• If we have only one man less suffering from hunger, it is already a result.我们只要做到少一个人挨饿，就已经算是成绩了。

参见 more 条。