by VS as much as VS up to

[majid72]

Hello

I wonder what differences exist between the three sentences?

- Their wages were increased by 15 percent.
- Their wages were increased as much as 15 percent.
- Their wages were increased up to 15 percent.

Best regards

 

[tedmc]

Hello

I wonder what the differences [STRIKE]exist[/STRIKE] are between the three sentences?

- Their wages were increased by 15 percent. - Every staff receives a fixed increase of 15 percent.
- Their wages were increased as much as 15 percent. - Same as (1); "as much as" is used to emphasize the generous amount of increase.
- Their wages were increased up to 15 percent. - The staff receive increases of varying amounts up to 15 percent.

Best regards

.

 

[GoesStation]

To my AmE eyes, Their wages were increased as much as 15 percent means the same as number three, not number one.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Shamefully my Chinese eyes see the same thing as tedmc.

 

[bubbha]

To me (American), "Their wages were increased as much as 15 percent" means "Their wages were increased by varied percentages, the maximum of which is 15%, which is a lot."

"as much as" both stresses a maximum, and underscores that it's a remarkable amount.

Compare: "As many as 30,000 people a day visit the National Museum."

 

[tedmc]

OK, according to the dictionary, "as much as" means " the same amount" or "almost". Whereas (1) means the exact amount.
This means (2) is also not the same as (3) (as GS said)

Say, one of the staff gets an increase of 5%. Is that considered "as much as"?
If 10,000 people visit the National Museum a day, can you can that as many as 30,000 people people visit the museum?

Is it "varying percentages" or "varied percentages" or either can be used?

 

[GoesStation]

OK, according to the dictionary, "as much as" means " the same amount" or "almost". Whereas (1) means the exact amount.
This means (2) is also not the same as (3) (as GS said)

A good dictionary should offer several definitions for the phrase as much as. One would be "the same amount as"; another would be "up to and including". If the staff got raises of as much as 15%, some employees could have gotten 5%, some 10%, some no raise at all, but at least one got 15%.

Say, one of the staff gets an increase of 5%. Is that considered "as much as"?
If 10,000 people visit the National Museum a day, can you say [STRIKE]can[/STRIKE] that as many as 30,000 people people visit the museum?

No. You can say that if there has been at least one day where 30,000 people visited the museum.

 

[Raymott]

If the staff got raises of as much as 15‰, some employees could have gotten 5‰, some 10‰, some no raise at all, but at least one got 15‰.

15‰ means 15 per thousand (per-mille) = 1.5%. Is your % symbol broken?

 

[GoesStation]

15‰ means 15 per thousand (per-mille) = 1.5%. Is your % symbol broken?

Hmm. No, it isn't broken. I thought it looked a little odd. My SwiftKey keyboard switches to the per-thousand symbol if you long-tap the percent sign. I haven't been to an optometrist since mine retired about five years ago, which means I'm at least four years overdue. :-(

Having long-tapped the symbol, I compounded the problem by copying the wrong symbol into my clipboard and pasting it later. It takes a couple of taps to get to the percent sign, so I thought I'd save time.

Thanks for the heads-up.