Ask a Question

(Create a thread)
Go Back   Spanish language learning forums > Spanish & English Languages > Grammar


Tanto como / As much... as...

 

This is the place for questions about conjugations, verb tenses, adverbs, adjectives, word order, syntax and other grammar questions for English or Spanish.


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #11  
Old April 23, 2008, 02:32 PM
Iris's Avatar
Iris Iris is offline
Emerald
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Where the stork dropped me years ago, wish it had done it further north
Posts: 687
Native Language: nominally:Spanish, emotionally:Engl
Iris is on a distinguished road
And by the way, what's the relationship between love and dancing with mice?
__________________
Take care,
María José
Reply With Quote
   
Get rid of these ads by registering for a free Tomísimo account.
  #12  
Old April 24, 2008, 11:13 AM
Alfonso Alfonso is offline
Filósofo y Poeta
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,239
Alfonso will become famous soon enough
Quote:
Originally Posted by Iris View Post
Who's the lucky lady?
Her name is Love. Mine is misery.
__________________
I welcome all corrections to my English.
Salu2 desde Madrid,
Alfonso
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old April 24, 2008, 11:42 PM
Tomisimo's Avatar
Tomisimo Tomisimo is offline
Davidísimo
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: North America
Posts: 5,664
Native Language: American English
Tomisimo will become famous soon enoughTomisimo will become famous soon enough
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfonso View Post
Her name is Love. Mine is misery.
Very funny
__________________
If you find something wrong with my Spanish, please correct it!
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old May 09, 2008, 12:39 AM
gatitoverde's Avatar
gatitoverde gatitoverde is offline
Pearl
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Carolina del Norte, EEUU
Posts: 152
Native Language: Inglés estadounidense
gatitoverde will become famous soon enough
Just a nuance

Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfonso View Post
In Spanish you can say:
  • Me gusta tanto el pan como la leche.
  • Fuimos tanto a bailar como a cantar.
... meaning that you do both things, or that you don't exclude either of them. It's a way to emphasise:
  • Me gusta el pan y la leche.
  • Fuimos a bailar y a cantar.
Would you say the following sentences in English?
  • I like bread as well as milk.
  • We went to dance as well as to sing
And, the second part of the question is when do you use as much + (...) + as?

Thanks a lot in advance!
Remember also that, in English, the gerund, or -ing form of the verb, is far more versatile than it's Spanish counterpart, and often used where you'd use the infinitive in Spanish. I'd contend that, in colloquial American English, one would be very likely to phrase it in one of two ways:

- I like singing and dancing.
- I like singing as much as dancing

Come to think of it, you'd never hear anyone use the infinitive in an "as much as" statement. Hence, this would sound stilted:

- I like to sing as much as to dance.

If using the infinitive with "and," the second "to" would definitely be dropped, so an option would be:

- I like to sing and dance.

In writing, the statement would most likely go something like:

- I like singing as much as I do dancing.

One more note: in British English, I've heard the first "as" replaced with "so" in negative versions of the sentence. So you'd have:

- I don't like singing so much as dancing.

To round it out, let me give you the way an American speaker would most likely say or write the negative:

- I don't like singing as much as dancing.

Hope that helps.

Last edited by gatitoverde; May 09, 2008 at 02:56 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old May 09, 2008, 01:16 AM
gatitoverde's Avatar
gatitoverde gatitoverde is offline
Pearl
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Carolina del Norte, EEUU
Posts: 152
Native Language: Inglés estadounidense
gatitoverde will become famous soon enough
To continue

Now that I've thought about the wolves and mice, I have to say that the following simple statements seem a little unnatural to me:

- You can see as many wolves as mice.
- You see as many wolves as mice.

Not to say that I haven't said things in that manner, but I was being poetic, or fancy, or something other than natural. I think it would be more natural to repeat the initial verb in the second half of the sentence. I think you would say:

- You can see as many wolves as you can mice

I'm reminded of the need in Spanish to sometimes repeat "de" before subsequent nouns. Were the verb "to be able" (can) not used, one would fall back on "to do":

- You see as many wolves as you do mice.

Strangely, repeating a form of the verb "to see" would not work as well as "to do." And after writing all this, I'm reminded of just how complicated languages really are. Good luck.
Reply With Quote
  #16  
Old May 09, 2008, 01:31 AM
gatitoverde's Avatar
gatitoverde gatitoverde is offline
Pearl
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Carolina del Norte, EEUU
Posts: 152
Native Language: Inglés estadounidense
gatitoverde will become famous soon enough
After further thought

The wolves and mice brought me back around to singing and dancing. I think the only way to get away with using the infinitive in an "as much as" statement is to repeat the initial verb, as with the wolves and mice:

- I like to sing as much as I like to dance.

versus

- I like to sing as much as dance

which sounds a little off.
Reply With Quote
  #17  
Old May 09, 2008, 04:07 AM
Alfonso Alfonso is offline
Filósofo y Poeta
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,239
Alfonso will become famous soon enough
Quote:
Originally Posted by gatitoverde View Post
Hope that helps.
It's as clear as water. Thank you very much, Gatito!
__________________
I welcome all corrections to my English.
Salu2 desde Madrid,
Alfonso
Reply With Quote
  #18  
Old May 09, 2008, 06:42 AM
Jane's Avatar
Jane Jane is offline
Emerald
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Spain
Posts: 727
Native Language: English
Jane will become famous soon enough
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfonso View Post
Her name is Love. Mine is misery.
LOL.
The question then should be `Who is the unlucky lady?´
__________________
Life´s Beautiful !
It gets even better!!!
Jane.
Reply With Quote
  #19  
Old May 09, 2008, 06:55 AM
Alfonso Alfonso is offline
Filósofo y Poeta
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,239
Alfonso will become famous soon enough
It was me the only unlucky one. But this was at least a week ago. Now I've already gotten over it. Life's beautiful!
__________________
I welcome all corrections to my English.
Salu2 desde Madrid,
Alfonso

Last edited by Alfonso; May 09, 2008 at 08:08 AM. Reason: Corrections thanks to Jane, Iris and Gatitoverde
Reply With Quote
  #20  
Old May 09, 2008, 07:03 AM
Jane's Avatar
Jane Jane is offline
Emerald
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Spain
Posts: 727
Native Language: English
Jane will become famous soon enough
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfonso View Post
It was me the only unlucky one.I was the unlucky one. But this was at least a week ago. Now I've already gone got/ gotten over it. Life's beautiful!
That´s rather fast.
__________________
Life´s Beautiful !
It gets even better!!!
Jane.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
comparison, grammar, tanto como

 

Link to this thread
URL: 
HTML Link: 
BB Code: 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Site Rules

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
como que no pudiste anthony Vocabulary 3 August 07, 2007 10:50 AM
Como limpiar un laptop Tomisimo General Chat 4 June 06, 2007 12:55 PM
como se dise itzemendoza Vocabulary 2 July 24, 2006 08:08 PM
Re: como se dice... julybaby Vocabulary 6 May 27, 2006 07:41 AM
como se dice... Maria Vocabulary 6 May 24, 2006 07:07 PM


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 07:32 AM.

Forum powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.

X