Sentence connector after hardly/barely emphasizing the lack of ability/resource

Question

What is the sentence connector that fits best in the following examples?

He could hardly even make a profit with two employees, ..... three.

She could barely even eat one pizza slice, ..... two.

They hardly had enough brains to write the script for the school play, ..... the script for a Broadway play.

The bear had hardly enough food for two days, ...... two weeks.

Closely related question: https://english.stackexchange.com/q/439785/71848 — JJJ, Jul 24 '18 at 03:19
These meet the rules for (and are therefore all grammatical with) let alone, as this answer points out. — John Lawler, Jul 24 '18 at 03:33
@JJJ nice find! I did a search but obviously not as diligently ;-) And I might add your own answer to a somewhat related question: https://english.stackexchange.com/a/438024 — Chappo Hasn't Forgotten, Jul 24 '18 at 03:33

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 24 '18 at 03:08

2

let alone

PHRASE

Used to indicate that something is far less likely or suitable than something else already mentioned.

‘he was incapable of leading a bowling team, let alone a country’

answered Jul 24 '18 at 03:08

Chappo Hasn't Forgotten

3,166
8
24
35

Sentence connector after hardly/barely emphasizing the lack of ability/resource

1 Answers1

let alone

Linked