Not So Much, As Much As, - Learn Advanced English Phrases & Expressions

This blog will introduce a combination of hard-to-understand phrases to you, which will sophisticate your sentence structure in a good way as much as to discombobulate your audience. As you can see further on, these construction is mostly associated with negative sentences. These all practically mean the same thing; out of two cases stated in the sentence, one has more impact. Understanding which is tricky.

Can you guess the meaning of quoted portion in the sentences given below?

"I started my second course of online learning. However, that is NOT SO STRESSFUL AS MUCH AS EXCITING."

"My friend is NOT SO HELPFUL AS MUCH AS ANNOYING."

Let us cut to the chase!

The first sentence means, it’s stressful, but the feeling of excitement is stronger than the feeling of stress.

The second sentence means, My friend is more annoying than being helpful.

These kinds of phrases/ constructions with nouns, adjectives, and verbs. 

First let us look into 3 formats/ word orders for this meaning.

1. not so + [adj/verb/noun] + as much as + [adj/verb/noun]

  • I am not so angry as much as sad.
  • I don't feel so angry as much as sad.

not as [adj/verb/noun] so much as [adj/verb/noun] is also possible.

2. not [adj/verb/noun] + so much as + [adj/verb/noun]

  • I am not angry so much as sad.
  • I don't feel angry so much as sad.
  • I don't really think of her as a daughter so much as a very good friend.
  • I did not really object to Will's behavior so much as his personality. 
  • I didn’t listen so much as survive the conversation.

3. not so much [adj/verb/noun] + as [adj/verb/noun]

  • I am not so much angry as sad.
  • I don't feel so much angry as sad. 
  • She told me she was not so much leaving her job as it was leaving her.
  • Sailing is not so much a science as an art.
  • What bothered me was not so much what he said as how he said it.

See more examples:

  • I didn't love her so much as cared for her
  • Her advice didn't mean harm to him so much as good.
  • Her advice didn't mean so much harm to him as good.
  • It's not so much the experience itself as the anticipation that is enjoyable.
  • They're not so much lovers as friends.
  • He is not so much a brother as a regular guy.

 Put the phrase into execution!

However, you can also express the same meaning using "but" because a comparison is at play.

  • A good birth depends not so much on who you are but where you are and how much you know.

SO MUCH AS (meaning: even)

Then we have "so much as" that means "even" (usually with negative statements).

  • He doesn't so much as say hello to me.
  • I didn't so much as catch sight of him all day long. 
  • Laura had not reproached him, 
  • He never so much as mentioned it. 
  • She auctioned off the car without so much as taking a ride in it. 


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