[Grammar] As....As

[Anson Chan]

Dear All Teachers,
I have trouble understanding the following sentence:
"Livingstone was as indignant about the sufferings of slaves as a previous generation had been indifferent to them." which is quoted from Empire - The rise and demise of the British world order and the lessons for global power. I am not sure how the "as...as" works here. Is it the same function "as much as", "as fast as"?
Cheers,
Anson

 

[Rover_KE]

Welcome to the forum. :-D

Please tell us the name of the author of the quote.

 

[Anson Chan]

The author is Niall Ferguson

 

[jutfrank]

It's the normal comparative use of as ... as ... to equate degrees. The level of indignation matches the level of indifference.

 

[Anson Chan]

ic thanks, jutfrank!

 

[emsr2d2]

[STRIKE]ic[/STRIKE] I see. Thanks, jutfrank!

Please note my corrections above. Please don't use non-standard constructions or textspeak on the forum. "ic" means nothing at all. It took me a while to realise you meant "I see". Bear in mind that there is no need to write a new post to thank anyone. Simply click on the "Thank" button. It saves time for everyone.