little to no understanding

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "little to no understanding" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe a situation where someone has almost no comprehension or grasp of a subject or concept. Example: "Despite the extensive training, many employees left the program with little to no understanding of the new software."

✓ Grammatically correct

News & Media

Science

Academia

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

13 human-written examples

Most Americans also have little to no understanding that some groups within society are more vulnerable to the health impacts than others.

Yale University

In this paper, we examine the design of business process diagrams in contexts where novice analysts only have basic design tools such as paper and pencils available, and little to no understanding of formalized modeling approaches.

Information Systems

In addition to the novice RALS surgeons, additional participants were selected to represent true novices in the classical/traditional sense: having limited prior exposure to any aspects of the targeted tasks, including little to no understanding of general surgical principles or familiarity with relevant anatomy or surgical tools.

International Journal of STEM Education

But the research also shows that most HR professionals have little to no understanding of the military — only one in five of those surveyed felt extremely familiar with our military and its ranks and structure, and more than half said they had poor to no familiarity at all, which isn't shocking considering how few Americans (less than 1%) have served in our most recent conflicts.

TechCrunch

But the research also shows that most HR professionals have little to no understanding of the military — only one in five of those surveyed felt extremely familiar with our military and its ranks and structure, and more than half said they had poor to no familiarity at all, which isn't shocking considering how few Americans (less than 1%) have served in our most recent conflicts.

TechCrunch

Like the children, it showed little to no understanding for our quest to find vandals and car wrecks.

Vice

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

47 human-written examples

I have little to no technical understanding and when it comes to wiring, I'm all thumbs (a birth defect; it took me 17 hours to write this article).

Vice

MANY fascinating biological phenomena, of which we have little to no molecular understanding, are observed in organisms outside of those that constitute conventional molecular model systems.

Genetics

This approach, while providing little to no mechanistic understanding of which specific genetic perturbations lead to improved strains so they could be further exploited, has proven to be commercially successful as illustrated by the more than 1,000 fold improvement in penicillin titer by Penicillium chrysogenum [ 14].

BMC Genomics

Not only that, the officers were smug and unapologetic to King after the verdict, and politicians and newscasters alike expressed little-to-no empathy or contextual understanding about the community's response.

Huffington Post

"These people have little to no interest in understanding and engaging with the culture of the community".

Vice

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

Consider replacing with stronger synonyms such as "complete lack of understanding" to make the impact of your claim more direct.

Common error

Avoid using "little to no understanding" when a different phrase could be more precise. For instance, instead of saying someone has "little to no understanding of physics", clarify if they have some basic awareness or absolutely none.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "little to no understanding" functions as a qualifier, modifying a noun to indicate a deficiency in knowledge or comprehension. This is verified by Ludwig, which shows the phrase used in various sentences with different subjects lacking understanding. For example, "Most Americans also have little to no understanding that some groups within society are more vulnerable to the health impacts than others."

Expression frequency: Uncommon

Frequent in

News & Media

40%

Science

35%

Academia

25%

Less common in

Formal & Business

0%

Encyclopedias

0%

Social Media

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, the phrase "little to no understanding" is a grammatically sound and neutrally-registered expression used to indicate a lack of knowledge or comprehension. As Ludwig shows, it appears most frequently in news and media, science, and academic contexts. Its purpose is typically informative, to explain or emphasize a deficiency in understanding. While alternatives like "minimal comprehension" or "lack of awareness" exist, the original phrase effectively communicates the intended meaning. According to Ludwig AI, "The phrase is correct and usable in written English".

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

virtually no understanding

Strengthens the lack of comprehension through the addition of virtually.

almost no comprehension

Similar to 'virtually', it indicates the comprehension is close to zero.

a complete absence of understanding

Emphasizes an absolute lack of any comprehension.

negligible understanding

Highlights the understanding as being small enough to be disregarded.

minimal comprehension

Focuses on the limited degree of understanding rather than the absence of it.

limited grasp

Suggests a restricted ability to comprehend or deal with something.

lack of awareness

Emphasizes a deficiency in knowledge or consciousness about a particular subject.

basic unfamiliarity

Focuses on lacking even the most elementary knowledge about the subject.

scant knowledge

Highlights the inadequacy of information possessed.

rudimentary understanding at best

Expresses that someone's level of understanding is at the most basic.

FAQs

How can I use "little to no understanding" in a sentence?

You can use "little to no understanding" to describe a lack of comprehension about a specific topic, as in: "Many people have "little to no understanding" of quantum physics".

What are some alternatives to "little to no understanding"?

Depending on the context, you can use alternatives such as "minimal comprehension", "lack of awareness", or "scant knowledge".

Is it better to say "little understanding" or "little to no understanding"?

While both are acceptable, ""little to no understanding"" emphasizes the potential complete absence of comprehension, whereas "little understanding" implies some, however minimal, comprehension.

What's the difference between "lack of understanding" and "little to no understanding"?

"Lack of understanding" is a general term for not comprehending something. "Little to no understanding" specifies the degree of incomprehension as being very low or nonexistent. In most cases, they are interchangeable.