Level 5 · Advanced
Let alone: 何况
Statement，（更）何况 + Stronger Case（呢）？ · Traditional: Statement，（更）何況 + Stronger Case（呢）？
何况 (hékuàng) escalates an argument: if the easy case already fails (or succeeds), the harder case is beyond question — 这道题大人都不会做，何况孩子呢？ "even adults can't solve this problem, let alone a child."
It often teams up with a 连…都 clause before it and 呢 after it, and 更何况 adds extra punch. Compared with 别说…就是, 何况 is the more compact, more rhetorical option — it expects no reply.
Examples
这道题大人都不会做，何况孩子呢？
這道題大人都不會做，何況孩子呢？
zhè dào tí dà ren dōu bù huì zuò hé kuàng hái zi ne
Even adults can't do this problem, let alone kids.
平时都买不到票，何况现在是假期。
平時都買不到票，何況現在是假期。
píng shí dōu mǎi bù dào piào hé kuàng xiàn zài shì jià qī
You can't get tickets even normally — let alone now, during the holidays.
走路要一个小时，更何况现在还下着雨。
走路要一個小時，更何況現在還下著雨。
zǒu lù yào yī ge xiǎo shí gèng hé kuàng xiàn zài hái xià zhe yǔ
It's an hour on foot — and that's before you factor in the rain.
他连中文都会说，何况英文呢？
他連中文都會說，何況英文呢？
tā lián zhōng wén dōu huì shuō hé kuàng Yīng wén ne
He can even speak Chinese — English goes without saying.
Common mistakes
✗ 何况这道题很难，孩子不会做。
✓ 大人都不会做这道题，何况孩子呢？
何况 needs a first statement to escalate from — it can't open the argument.
Related grammar points
Practice this pattern in graded stories like The Sermon on the Mount - Part 2 (Matthew 6), The Sermon on the Mount - Part 3 (Matthew 7) inside the Literate Chinese app.
