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Azz Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

Not so much

Can one say

a. You are expected to produce traditional musical compositions, not so much experimental ones.
b. He is an architect, not so much an engineer.
?


I am not sure the 'not so much' is really correct in (a). If a composition is traditional, then it is not experimental.

Maybe (b) is better. One could argue that an architect's work is to some extent similar to a civil engineer's. But still...

Many thanks.
  

Top answer

The phrase "not so much" expresses a contrast , not a similarity.

— GPY

  • The phrase "not so much" expresses a contrast , not a similarity.
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4 Answers
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The phrase "not so much" expresses a contrast, not a similarity.
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Thank you very much.

I understand that. But in the first sentence what does it mean?

a. You are expected to produce traditional musical compositions, not so much experimental ones.

Shouldn't 'not so much' be replaced with 'not'?

a1. You are expected to produce traditional musical compositions,
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More or less, it means:

You are expected to produce traditional musical compositions rather than experimental ones.

The contrast in the original is not quite so binary.
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azza. You are expected to produce traditional musical compositions, not so much experimental ones.Shouldn't 'not so much' be replaced with 'not'?a1. You are expected to produce traditional musical compositions, not experimental ones.What is the difference between (a) and (a1), and what does (a1) really mean?
(a1) is more definite that you should definitely not
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