Little by little means gradually, in small amounts. You use it when something changes or builds up slowly, a bit at a time: a skill improves, savings grow, pain goes away. The phrase usually goes at the beginning or end of a sentence.
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little by little, + clause; clause + little by little; bit by bit (same meaning)
- Little by little, I started to understand my new colleagues' Scottish accent.
- We're paying off the car loan little by little, a small amount every month.
- The pain in my knee went away little by little after I stopped running.
What changed
First versionI speak German little by little, so I can order food and ask for directions.
RevisionI speak German a little, so I can order food and ask for directions.
Little by little and a little look similar, so it's easy to swap them. But the phrase only describes a process: something changing or building up over time. It can't describe your level of knowledge; for “slightly, not much” you need a little: I speak German a little.
Its synonym bit by bit means the same thing: Bit by bit, the flat started to feel like home. In essays and reports about gradual change, the usual choice is the single word gradually: Prices rose gradually over the decade.
Your turn
When I moved to Madrid, I knew no Spanish, but ___ I learnt enough to chat with my neighbours.
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little by little — The sentence describes going from zero to chatting with neighbours, so the knowledge grew gradually: little by little. A little answers the question “how much?” and doesn't go at the start of this part of the sentence: but a little I learnt isn't natural English.
Write about a habit or skill that didn't come to you straight away. Say what changed and how long it took.
Little by little, I got used to running before work; it took about three months, and now I miss it on rest days.
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