Grammar Info

N3 Lesson 2: 7/22

(ほど)~ない

Is not as…as, Isn't... like..., Not to the extent of...

Structure Legend

Structure

Verb + ほど + Verb[ない](1)
Noun + ほど + Verb[ない](1)

(1) [い]Adjective[ない][な]Adjective + ではない[な]Adjective + じゃない

Details

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    一般

About ほど~ない

Another expression that uses the noun ほど 'an extent' in Japanese, is ほど~ない. In the (A) part of a sentence, an extent will be highlighted, before the (B) part of the sentence will use ない to negate that extent, saying that it has not been reached. This phrase can be translated as 'it isn't like (A)', 'it's not to the point of (A)'. Literally it means 'if (A) is the extent, then (B) is not true'.
ほど will regularly be used after a verb or noun, while ない is more likely to be used after a verb, い-Adjective, or な-Adjective (as it is describing something about ほど).
  • 今日(きょう)(おも)ったほど(あつ)なかった
    Today wasn't as hot as I expected.
  • (なや)ほど(こと)じゃない
    It is nothing to worry about so much. (This is not as serious as you think it is)
  • 自転車(じてんしゃ)(くるま)(ほど)(はや)ないけど健康(けんこう)いいから自転車(じてんしゃ)会社(かいしゃ)行っ()ています
    Bicycles aren't as fast as cars, but it is good for my health, so I ride my bike to work.
  • この()このカレーほど(から)()(もの)ない
    There is no food as spicy as this curry in the world.
While this grammar point may be used for expressing that an extent has not been reached, it is also frequently used for making comparisons between two things. In these cases, it states that 'the example/limit of (A) is something that cannot be reached/repeated by (B)'. This is similar to '(B) is not as ~ as (A)' in English.
  • (かあ)さんほどケーキ(づく)上手(じょうず)(ひと)どこにもない
    There is no one in this world that is as good as my mom at baking cakes.

Examples

  • 電車(でんしゃ)飛行機(ひこうき)ほど(はや)ないけど、電車(でんしゃ)ほど(やす)()(もの)はない

    Trains are not as fast as planes, but there isn't anything like a train when it comes to cheap transportation.

    The first part uses the comparison usage, while the second usage means 'is the best'.

  • (きみ)(はは)ほど(やさ)しい(ひと)はいない

    There isn't anyone as nice as your mom.

  • 東京(とうきょう)ほど人口(じんこう)(おお)都会(とかい)ない(おも)う。

    I think that there isn't another city with a large population like Tokyo's.

  • ()って!あなたほど(はや)(はし)ないんだ!

    Wait! I can't run as fast as you!

  • (おも)っていたほど大変(たいへん)仕事(しごと)ではなかった

    The job was not as rough as I thought it would be.

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ほど~ない – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (6 in total)

  • Daru

    Daru

    About 2 years ago

    地図形式が持つ歪みから、ロシアは世界地図上に描かれているほどほど大きくない。

    I understand how the grammar point of this sentence is being used here, but I’m having a hard time making sense of the “持つ歪みから” at the start .

    Probably working with incomplete information right now, but wouldn’t something like 「歪み持ちだから」read better/be more natural? Specially considering 歪み is a noun and would need だ for から.

    EDIT:
    So I dug a bit deeper.

    • My proposal isn’t actually more natural, the meaning changes to something like “it’s full of distortions”, rather than “it can have distortions”
    • から is being used not as a “because”, but “based on”

    すまん! Leaving my confusion for everyone to see regardless.

  • Daru

    Daru

    About 1 year ago

    Who was the ding-dong that posted this? Oh wait, it was me before working in Bunpro.

  • wct

    wct

    About 1 year ago

    I have a question (below), but first, an observation:

    So, the explanation section for this (and many others besides) have been updated, and it is soooo much more complete and instructive! I’m loving BunPro more and more every day! Thanks to everyone involved in these new explanations!

    Oh, and I guess one suggestion might be to somehow update these grammar-point-specific forum posts so that they reflect the new explanation sections? Currently, the OP has the old explanation which is much shorter and less complete. I think this is somewhat important, in the sense that if BP users are to discuss the grammar point, it doesn’t do much good if everyone reading the thread has to open up the grammar point in a separate tab and flip back and forth to reference the text of the explanation section.

    Perhaps this could be maintained in an automated way, such that some forum bot automatically updates the grammar point posts whenever the source-grammar-point is signif...

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