less than与more than意思相反，主要用法有：

1. 用于两者比较，意为“比……少(小)”。如：

This house is less expensive than that one.

这栋房子比那栋房子便宜。

She speaks English less fluently than her brother.

她英语说得不如她弟弟流利。

I earn less than he does. 我比他钱挣得少。She eats less than a bird. 她的食量比小鸟还少。

I eat lots less than I used to.

我比以前吃得少多了。

2. 指主语自身在数量上“少于”“不足”。如：

He lost by less than 100 votes.

他以相差不到100张选票败北。

It is his third brush with the law in less than a year.

这已是他在不到一年的时间里第三次触犯法律了。

It was the second air disaster in the region in less than two months

这已经是该地区不到两个月内的第二次空难了。

The marriage had lasted for less than two years

这段婚姻维持了不到两年。

It costs less than￡5. 这值不了5英镑。

This simple chicken dish costs less than £ 1 a head

这道简单的鸡肉菜肴每人的花费还不到1英镑。

He ran the mile in less than four minutes.

他用了不到四分钟就跑完一英里。

He could have looked over the papers in less than ten minutes.

他本可在10分钟内把文件翻看一遍的。

The wedding preparations take weeks but the actual ceremony takes less than an hour.

准备婚礼要几周，而婚礼仪式本身还不到一小时。

I'll see you in less than three weeks. 要不了3周我就能再见到你了。

The young man is less than twenty years old.

这个年轻人不到 20 岁.

He has to manage on less than £ 100 a week.

他就靠每周不到100英镑来维持生活。

Their average gate is less than 23,000.

他们的平均上座率不到23,000人。

Doctors were disturbed that less than 30 percent of the patients were women

医生们焦虑不安，因为患者中有不到30%为女性。

3. 表示轻微的否定，意为“不很”“并不是太”（主要见于美国英语中）。如：The job was less than perfect. 这工作不十分理想。The boys were less than happy about having a party. 开晚会男孩子并不很高兴。

We were busy and less than delighted to have company that day.

那天我们很忙,不高兴有客人来.

The book is less than inspiring.

那本书不大吸引人。

The victory was nothing less than a miracle.

这场胜利是个不折不扣的奇迹。（双重否定）

The project is nothing less than mapping every gene sequence in the human body.

这个项目就是要绘制人体所有基因序列的图谱。

The receptionist was less than helpful.

那接待员一点忙都不帮。