Not nearly as ... so/as

Question

Americans are not nearly as divided as our rancorous politics might suggest.Americans are a lot less divided than our rancorous policics migtht suggest.The first sentence is form cnn.com.Is the second sentece is correct and carry about the same meanig?I especially want to know if the than usage is correct.ThanksLiJ

Hoa Thai · Accepted Answer

LiveinjapanAmericans are not nearly as divided as our rancorous politics might suggest.

Americans are a lot less divided than our rancorous policics migtht suggest.

The first sentence is form cnn.com.
Is the second sentece is correct and carry about the same meanig?
I especially want to know if the than usage is correct.

Thanks
LiJ

Hi,

In my opinion, not nearly as divided as means less divided than. The addition of a lot stretches it a bit far. Let's take another example:

The cost of buying my house is $800,000, and yours $900,000. Both are expensive. To me, my house is not nearly as expensive as yours OR my house is less expensive than yours. However, if mine costs $500,000 instead, though still expensive, my house is a lot less expensive than yours.

Liveinjapan · Answer

Your explanation helped me a lot. Thanks, HT. <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

Anonymous · Answer

There is a point of grammar being overlooked here. In traditional English grammar, a declarative us of "near" calls for the conjunction "as":

as near as I wanted to be

while a negative statement requires "so"

not so near as I wished

This distinction has almost disappeared.

The Grey-Haired Grmamarian--is there any other kind?

Not nearly as ... so/as

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