■ so much as

1) 前面有否定，但 so much as 起主从连词作用，引入一个方式状语从句，此时可以按照字面理解为“没有…那么多”或“达不到…的程度”，将前面的主句同后面的从句作程度上的比较，表示主句的程度比不上从句。

• I was not looking at her so much as I was studying her hat.我与其说是在注视着她，不如说是在打量她的帽子（直译是：我注视着她并没有达到打量她的帽子的程度）。

前面和后面的两个比较项也可以不是句子而只是名词成分或状语成分。

• Christianity was not a religion here so much as a birthright. (Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code, p.25)基督教在这里与其说是一种宗教，不如说是一种继承权。

So much 和 as 之间可以隔开，意义同没有隔开一样，只是前一个成分从 so much 之前跳到了 so much 之后，as 之前。

• These are all important matters, which she does not so much address as allude to. (New York Review of Books, Aug. 14, 2003, p.4)这些都是重大问题，而她对此，与其说是加以处理，不如说是间接提上一笔。
• ... and inspecting officers had come there not so much to see how Wegener ran things as to see how things should be run.…视察的军官们到那里去，与其说是要看看魏格纳是如何办事的，不如说是要看看事情是该怎样办的。

2) 同样前面有否定，但是 so much as 不是起主从连词作用，不引入从句，而只是作为一个介词短语，连同名词一起，起状语作用，此时意义同字面恰恰相反，不是“有这么多”，而是“连这么一点点（也没有）”。

• He refused to donate so much as a penny.他连一分钱也拒绝捐赠。
• They left without so much as a good-bye.他们连再见一声也没说就走了。
• Two of them ran off without so much as a backward glance.其中两人头也不回就跑掉了。

So much as 甚至可以插入否定的谓语动词词组之中，成为十足的副词短语（“连…也不”）。

• I haven't so much as thought about this in years and years.我对这件事多少年来连想都没有想过。

3) 在疑问句中或条件从句中，同样是起状语作用而不是作为连词引入从句，意义也同字面恰恰相反，表示“哪怕是如此小的程度”。

• If you so much as touch him, I'll kill you.你哪怕是碰他一下，我就要了你的命。
• If I see anyone so much as take out a joint at a party, I leave.联欢会上如果有人哪怕是仅仅拿出大麻叶烟，我看见了也马上退场。

4) 在肯定句中，作为状语，so much as 既可以表示“竟然大到…的程度”、“几乎大到…的程度”，也可以表示“竟然小到…的程度”，取决于它所修饰的成分本身的词义方向。

• The clerk so much as accused the customer of shoplifting.店员简直是指责那个顾客盗窃商品（此处 so much as 表示前者）。
• These artifacts would be sold for a fraction of their worth on the black market before disappearing, sometimes for hundreds of years before so much as a whispered rumor was heard of them again.这些珍品往往在黑市上廉价出售，于是消失无踪，有时候要等好几百年，才会再听到一点点有关的风言风语（此处 so much as 表示后者）。
• ... if he so much as got a spot on his boots, he ran to his cabin in a tantrum to polish them. (John Darnton, The Darwin Conspiracy, p.187)…哪怕是靴子上沾上了一个污点，他也气冲冲跑回自己的舱房去把靴子擦干净（此处 so much as 表示后者）。

5) 参见 as much as 条。