AS (5 sentences)

Question

Could you help me with these sentences please?

- Her dad lent her as much money as her mom let her stay at her house./lent her money as many times as her mom let her stay at her house. (her dads lent her money 5 times and her moms let her stay over 5 times.)
- The singers voice isn't the same live as in studio.
- He's been to as many funerals as his age./to more funerals than his age.
- Shoes in this store are worth as much as they cost in other stores yet they are 2 times as expensive here.
- If I pay them back partially I won't be in as big a trouble as if I pay them nothing. Than again I'm in as much trouble as I can be in.
- X takes as long as it takes for the Y to... (could you give me an example using this form?)

Thank you

Mr Wordy · Accepted Answer

- Her dad lent her as much money as her mom let her stay at her house. -- Doesn't make sense. The two things are not commensurable.

- Her dad lent her money as many times as her mom let her stay at her house. -- Possible, but expressing it like this implies some connection between the two events.

- The singer's voice isn't the same live as (it is) in the studio. -- OK, but I would tend to insert "it is".

- He's been to as many funerals as his age./to more funerals than his age. -- Both OK. Feels like a deliberately creative sentence, rather than a natural utterance.

- Shoes in this store are worth as much as they cost in other stores yet they are twice as expensive here. -- When I first read it I felt it was a bit convoluted, but on re-reading I guess it's OK.

- If I pay them back partially I won't be in as much trouble as if I pay them nothing. Then again, I'm already in as much trouble as I can be in.

- X takes as long as it takes for the Y to... (could you give me an example using this form?) -- "The journey takes as long as it takes for us to watch two movies." Quite possible in conversation, but written down and studied, the repetition of "takes" might feel a bit awkward.

Khoff · Answer

Alex, are you still trying to translate conversation from French movies? I think it would be much more worth while for you to spend the time watching English movies, and ask about anything you don't understand. Some of these sentences are so convoluted, my reaction is often simply "we wouldn't say that!"

How about "Every time she stays with her mother, her Dad tries to compete by lending her money." I can't figure out any other way this would be meaningful.
Shoes in this store cost twice what they're worth/twice what they cost everywhere else.

Philip · Answer

khoffAlex, are you still trying to translate conversation from French movies? I think it would be much more worth while for you to spend the time watching English movies, and ask about anything you don't understand. Some of these sentences are so convoluted, my reaction is often simply "we wouldn't say that!"

I totally agree!

Mr Wordy · Answer

Philip
khoff Some of these sentences are so convoluted, my reaction is often simply "we wouldn't say that!"
I totally agree!

I think it somewhat depends on whether these are meant as lowest-common-denominator spontaneous utterances or as deliberately constructed sentences. For example, there are clearly less oblique ways to say "Her dad lent her money as many times as her mom let her stay at her house", but if I read this sentence in a piece of creative writing I would be quite happy with it.*

Perhaps you could clarify, Alex, whether in your posts you are trying to write everyday conversational English in its simplest and most commonplace form, or if you are striving for something more.

(*Though this may be a bad example if it's an accidental by-product of a direct translation!)

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