do nothing to vs do little to

[uktous]

Hi,

Question:
What is the difference between do nothing to and do little to?

Sentence:
The company did nothing to/did little to prevent the disaster.

Do little to help = to fail to help someone/something
Http://www.macmillandictionary.com/d...british/little

But I can't find a explanation for do nothing to.

Thanks

[emsr2d2]

Hi,

Question:
What is the difference between do nothing to and do little to?

Sentence:
The company did nothing to/did little to prevent the disaster.

Do little to help = to fail to help someone/something
Http://www.macmillandictionary.com/d...british/little

But I can't find a explanation for do nothing to.

Thanks

If they did little, then they did something but not very much.
If they did nothing, then they did absolutely nothing!

The "to" goes with "prevent".

They did nothing/little to prevent the disaster.

What did they do [in order] to prevent the disaster?
They did nothing [in order] to prevent the disaster.
They did [very] little [in order] to prevent the disaster.