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LingakuLingaku[A] + [verb phrase]，[B] + 则 + [verb phrase]
如果 / 若 + [clause]，则 + [verb phrase]
少则 + [amount]，多则 + [amount]
则 links a second clause to the first, in writing. It sits in the adverb slot – after the second clause's subject, before the verb – and marks either a contrast ("whereas") or a consequence ("then").
Two subjects, two different facts. 则 goes after the second subject.
Compare 而, which opens the clause before the subject. Learners move 则 to that slot too.
After a condition, 则 introduces the result, like spoken 就. It goes with written conditionals – 如果, 若, 如 – in rules, instructions and sayings.
With paired amounts, 则 gives a range: 少则… 多则… "at least…, at most…".
则 is also a formal measure word for news items and notices (一则新闻), covered with the formal measure words. 否则 is a separate word with its own entry.