haru Korean › Grammar › Level 3B › N만큼 · A/V-(으)ㄴ/는 만큼 —요즘은 시골도 도시만큼 편리해요
N만큼 · A/V-(으)ㄴ/는 만큼 —요즘은 시골도 도시만큼 편리해요 — as … as N · as much as … — comparing and matching
As … as N · as much as … — comparing and matching. Korean grammar for intermediate learners — Level 3B, lesson 5: 나이가 들수록 고향이 그리워져요 (The older I get, the more I miss home — city, country, nostalgia).
What it means
만큼 measures one thing against another. After a noun it means 'as … as': 요즘은 시골도 도시만큼 편리해요 'these days the countryside is as convenient as the city'. It is joined to the noun, and 받침 makes no difference (서울만큼, 도시만큼). With a negative it means 'not as … as': 제 고향은 서울만큼 크지 않아요 'my hometown isn't as big as Seoul'. N만큼 … N은/는 없어요 says something is the best: 엄마 음식만큼 맛있는 음식은 없어요. After a verb or an adjective, 만큼 is written as a separate word and means 'as much as' or 'to the same degree as': use -는 for now (일하는 만큼 'as much as you work'), -(으)ㄴ for the past (노력한 만큼 늘어요 'you improve as much as you have worked'), -(으)ㄹ for an amount still to come (드실 만큼만 가져가세요 'please take only as much as you will eat'), and -(으)ㄴ with adjectives (비싼 만큼 맛있어요 'it is as good as it is expensive'). Compare N처럼 (Lesson 2B-3), 'like' — the same way or look — and N보다 (Lesson 2A-4), 'more than'; 만큼 is about the same amount or degree. The tense lives in the modifier before 만큼; after N만큼 the verb at the end takes any tense: 그때는 마을이 시장만큼 시끄러웠어요.
Forms
| Pattern | When | Example |
|---|---|---|
| N만큼 | 명사 — 받침 O · X 모두 · 바로 붙여요 | 도시 + 만큼 → 도시만큼 |
| -는 / -(으)ㄴ / -(으)ㄹ 만큼 | 동사: 지금 -는 · 과거 -(으)ㄴ · 양 -(으)ㄹ / 형용사 -(으)ㄴ · 만큼을 따로 써요 | 일하다 + 는 만큼 → 일하는 만큼 |
Key points
- N만큼 = as … as N (the same degree): 시골도 도시만큼 편리해요. With a negative, 'not as … as': 서울만큼 크지 않아요. Joined to the noun, and 받침 doesn't matter: 서울만큼 · 도시만큼.
- After a verb, 만큼 stands apart: -는 만큼 (now) · -(으)ㄴ 만큼 (past) · -(으)ㄹ 만큼 (an amount to come) = as much as: 일하는 만큼 · 노력한 만큼 · 먹을 만큼. Adjectives: -(으)ㄴ 만큼 (비싼 만큼).
Examples
- 두 가지가 같은 정도일 때 써요: 요즘은 시골도 도시만큼 편리해요.
- 명사는 바로 뒤에 만큼을 붙여요: 서울만큼 · 고향 음식만큼. 받침과 상관없어요.
- -지 않다 · -지 못하다와 자주 같이 써요: 제 고향은 서울만큼 크지 않아요.
- 동사는 -는 · -(으)ㄴ · -(으)ㄹ 뒤에 만큼을 따로 써요: 일하는 만큼 · 노력한 만큼 · 먹을 만큼.
- 2B 3과 N처럼은 모양이 같을 때, N만큼은 정도가 같을 때, 2A 4과 N보다는 정도가 다를 때 써요.
Where university textbooks teach it
This point also appears in: Yonsei University Korean 2-2, lesson 17; Yonsei University Korean 4-2, lesson 17; Sogang University Korean 4B, lesson 4; Sogang University Korean 5B, lesson 5; Ewha Womans University Korean 3-1, lesson 5; Hongik University Korean 3B, lesson 10; Hanyang University Korean 3-1, lesson 6; Hanyang University Korean 3-2, lesson 10; Hanyang University Korean 4-2, lesson 11; Seoul National University Korean 5B, lesson 7.
Also in this lesson
- A/V-(으)면 A/V-(으)ㄹ수록 —오래 살면 살수록 고향이 그리워져요 — the more …, the more … — two things that grow together
- 하도 A/V-아서/어서 —항공료가 하도 비싸서 깜짝 놀랐어요 — so very … that … — a strong, spoken reason
- A/V-았던/었던 N —여기는 제가 어렸을 때 살았던 동네예요 — the … I once … · the … that was — memories of what is over