■ as much as

1) 逐字的字面意义：“像…那样多”。

• three times as much as last year为去年的三倍
• The cats eats almost as much as the dogs.猫吃得几乎同狗一样多。
• I've done as much as I can.我已经尽力而为。
• I don't work as much as I used to.我现在干的活没有从前那样多了。
• He spends as much as he earns.他挣多少花多少。
• Social Security protects the young as much as it does the old.社会保险制度既保护老人，也保护青年人。
• People who live with this plant consider it a friend as much as a foe.同这种植物生活在一起的人，把这种植物既当作朋友，也当作敌人。

2) “多到…地步”。

• You can lose as much as four pounds in one week.你可以一周之内减轻体重四磅之多。
• Whirlpool confirmed plans to invest as much as$145 million in its Ohio facilities, saving 2,000 jobs.漩涡公司确定了对自己在俄亥俄的厂址投资高达一亿四千五百万美元的计划，这一来就能保住两千个职位。
• In North Carolina, two people died in car crashes as heavy rain pounded the state, dropping as much as 5 inches in some areas. (The Associated Press, Nov. 16, 2006)在北卡罗来纳州，两个人死于车祸，当时大雨冲击全州，在某些地区降雨量达五英寸之多。

3) “（虽然）一边的理由如是之多，（但是）另一边的理由也一样的多”。

• As much as I hate to do it, I must stay home and finish my paper.尽管我讨厌这样做，但我还是必须呆在家里，把论文写出来。
• As much as he hated his adversary, he could admit that he was the right candidate to challenge the establishment.他尽管讨厌他的对手，但他也承认，对方是个向建制挑战的合适的候选人。

有时候开头的 as 可以省去。

• I can't leave you here. Much as I'd like to.我不能把你留在这里。尽管我很想这样。

4) “一边的程度之高，同另一边一样”、“无异于”、“简直就是”。

• He as much as admitted it.他实际上承认了这一点。

5) as much as + 主语 + can do：“所能做到的差不多都做了”、“几乎技穷”、“险些做不到”。

• Then when the evening does come round I'm so exhausted from working and looking after the children that it's as much as I can do to sit upright and watch a BBC drama.干了一天的活再加上带孩子，搞得我筋疲力尽，到了晚上，我简直挺不直身子坐下来看 BBC 的电视剧。
• It was as much as I could do just to stop her crying.我简直没法让她停止嚎哭。
• It was as much as I could do to keep a straight face.我几乎无法一直把脸绷着。

参见 so much as 条。

6) 最末的 as 往后移，成为 as much... as...，有“与…的程度相当”或“既…又…”的意思。

• I'm as much a patriot as any of you.我之爱国，不亚于你们当中的任何人。
• Yet the Buckeye State... is as much a battleground in the economic as the political sense. (US News & World Report, June 7, 2004, p.36)然而橡树州（俄亥俄州）…既是经济意义上的战场，也是政治意义上的战场。

（注意这里 as much 后面同 as 后面的成分在句法构造上不对称）有时候后移的 as 要等到很迟才出现，此时要注意抓住前后的呼应关系，以免“断线”。

• The project you were shown bore about as much resemblance to the one we've approved as horseshit does to roast beef.人家给你看的那个方案，比起我们通过的那个方案，就仿如马粪之比起烤牛肉。
• Twice as much money went to presentations about American life and values as to programs on Middle East peace, combating terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and Iraq combined. (US News & World Report, March 17, 2003, p.40)用于介绍美国生活和价值观的钱，比用于中东和平、反恐、大规模毁灭性武器和伊拉克等项目加在一起还多出一倍。