never the less and nevertheless

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Why grammarians have made “nevertheless” from “never the less” joining the three words into a one?

Do some NES use “never the less” regularly?

Are “nevertheless” and “never the less” different in meaning?

Also please explain the difference, if any, between “never the less” and “none the less”.

Thanks

2

There is no good reason. Sometimes phrases are written unattached, with spaces, as in “post office”. Sometimes they are attached by hyphens: “cart-wheel”, “willy-nilly”. Sometimes they are attached with nothing in between: “blackbird”, “nevertheless”.

As a certain combination has been in longer use, as it is more frequent, and as its meaning differs more from what you would expect based on its separate elements, the chance becomes greater that it is written attached. (Hyphens make it look less firmly attached than no hyphens.) There are many words that are often spelled in two or three of the ways I mentioned above. But that is not the case with “nevertheless”: in modern English, it is always spelled just like that, never with spaces or hyphens. Spaces would indicate someone who was still learning English, like a child or a foreigner.

3

“Nevertheless” looks to me like a German way of making a word from a two or three others.

Thanks

4

Cerberus has explained.

5

Modern things usually last for a while.