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YukiKanda Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
as far as possible vs. as much as possible
Hello, I'd like to ask you about the difference between "as far as possible" and "as much as possible". This is because, the (non-native) adviser of my thesis corrected my "as far as possible" to "as much as possible". As far as I'm concerned, the one with "far" is more concerned with "degree", and the other with "much" "quantity". So I believe these are almost completely interchangeable, but am I wrong? Below is the context:
Phonemes which constitute minimal pairs should be learned as far as possible because better understanding of them would lead to further improvement of the learner's pronunciation intelligibility.
Note: "phonemes which constitute minimal pairs" are the smallest unit of speech that can be used to make one word different from another, such as the /b/ and /p/ in ‘big’ and ‘pig’.
Thank you in advance.
Phonemes which constitute minimal pairs should be learned as far as possible because better understanding of them would lead to further improvement of the learner's pronunciation intelligibility.
Note: "phonemes which constitute minimal pairs" are the smallest unit of speech that can be used to make one word different from another, such as the /b/ and /p/ in ‘big’ and ‘pig’.
Thank you in advance.
Top answer
I'm actually not sure what you're trying to say. Do you mean that students need to learn many of these minimal-pair phonemes, or that they need to learn them really well?
- I'm actually not sure what you're trying to say.
- Do you mean that students need to learn many of these minimal-pair phonemes, or that they need to learn them really well?
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8 Answers
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I'm actually not sure what you're trying to say. Do you mean that students need to learn many of these minimal-pair phonemes, or that they need to learn them really well?
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I'm actually not sure what you're trying to say. Do you mean that students need to learn many of these minimal-pair phonemes, or that they need to learn them really well?
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teechrI'm actually not sure what you're trying to say. Do you mean that students need to learn many of these minimal-pair phonemes, or that they need to learn them really well?I mean, learners should learn these minimal-pair phonemes as many as possible. Maybe I should put it in this way instead.
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Oh, it just hit me, would it make sense if I say "as many as possible"?
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Try,
Learners should learn as many minimal-pair phonemes as possible because a better understanding of them would lead to further improvement of the learner's pronunciation intelligibility.
Learners should learn as many minimal-pair phonemes as possible because a better understanding of them would lead to further improvement of the learner's pronunciation intelligibility.
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That sentence looks good to me although I'm wondering if I could avoid saying "learners should learn".
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Learners should learn (practice, be aware of, study) as many of these minimal-pair phonemes as possible. (Quantity, number of pairs should be maximized)
Learners should learn (practice, be aware of, study) these minimal-pair phonemes as much as possible. (Proportionate length of time devoted to study, repetition of exercises.)
Learners shou
Learners should learn (practice, be aware of, study) these minimal-pair phonemes as much as possible. (Proportionate length of time devoted to study, repetition of exercises.)
Learners shou
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Thank you teechr and AlpheccaStars. Now I've just realized how easy this question is. Now I wonder why I was having a hard time with it.
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