Even… let alone… (尚且…何况…)

Structure Extreme case + 尚且 + verb，何况 + more obvious case

尚且…何况… (shàngqiě… hékuàng…) is the full, literary a-fortiori frame: 尚且 presents the extreme case ("even X…") and 何况 draws the conclusion about the more obvious case ("let alone Y"). 圣人尚且会犯错，何况我们普通人 = "if even sages make mistakes, let alone ordinary people like us". 尚且 carries the nuance "even this hard case already holds"; it is more cultured and self-contained than the colloquial 连…都 that 何况 can also follow.

Examples

圣shèng人rén尚shàng且qiě会huì犯fàn错cuò，何hé况kuàng我wǒ们men普pǔ通tōng人rén。
If even sages make mistakes, let alone ordinary people like us.
大dà事shì尚shàng且qiě如rú此cǐ谨jǐn慎shèn，何hé况kuàng关guān乎hū性xìng命mìng的de决jué定dìng。
If even major matters are handled with such caution, all the more a decision that bears on one's life.
母mǔ语yǔ者zhě尚shàng且qiě常cháng常cháng用yòng错cuò，何hé况kuàng初chū学xué者zhě。
If even native speakers often get it wrong, let alone a beginner.

Levels are indicative: they follow the standard Chinese Grammar Wiki (AllSet Learning) progression, not an official HSK 3.0 mapping. We never assign levels by eye.

This point and the other 370, with audio on every example, inside Wanyu.