less so... more so...
Hello everyone. I'm reading an article now, and one phrase has piqued my interest. Here's how it goes. "The coach recommends using a headlamp or carrying a flashlight—less so you can see where you’re going and more so people can see you." I'm curious about this "less so... and more so..." part. Can I look at it as an established pattern of expressing my thoughts in English, or is it just a random phrase? So, can I say something like this: "Yesterday I went to an English-speaking club—less so I could practice my English and more so I could make new friends?" If not, can you suggest some other wording?
I'm asking this because I can't find it in dictionaries, nor can I find other example sentences that make use of it by googling.
Thanks in advance.
P.S. If you happen to speak Russian, here's the translation: "не столько чтобы... сколько чтобы...."
Search from various English teachers...
Answers · 4
1
It all depends on how you define a standard pattern of speech. It would certainly be understood by English speakers, but you will not hear it used much as there are not that many opportunities to use it and it's a bit long winded. In your flashlight example, most people would probably just say "carry a flashlight so you can be seen".
It would be fine in your English club example.
Much more common is "more or less" meaning approximately or somewhat,
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