GMAT-SC page 147 so..as vs. as..as

[OmkarP211]

Hi
I am confused between when to use as..as form and so..as form.

To my understanding, as..as is used when we are comparing nouns. If this is correct then :

His knowledge springs NOT SO MUCH from experience AS from schooling.

His knowledge springs NOT AS MUCH from experience AS from schooling.

Is the second form wrong? Why is the first one correct?

Thanks in advance!

[RonPurewal]

Here's my best attempt at explaining "Not so much X as Y":
It's a lot like "Not X but Y".
Both constructions indicate that people might expect X to be/do something, but that Y actually is/does that thing instead.

Here's the difference:

"- "Not X but Y" actually negates X. As you might expect, it actually means that X isn't or doesn't do something.

"- "Not so much X as Y" implies that X still is/does that thing to some degree, but not to the same degree as Y.

E.g.,
A woman says...
My husband first impressed me not with his car and clothes, but with his sense of humor.
"”> She was not impressed (at all) by his car and/or clothes. She was impressed only by his sense of humor.

My husband first impressed me not so much with his car and clothes as with his sense of humor.
"”> She was impressed"”"”at least a little bit"”"”by the car and clothes, but she was MORE impressed by the jokes.

[RonPurewal]

If "not as much as..." exists, then it's not like the above constructions at all.
"Not as much as..." would be a quantitative comparison. It'd be the opposite of "as much as...".

In a strict mathematical sense, the opposite of "=" is "≠". In real-world sentences, though, that's rarely the case, since there's usually an understanding of whether we're talking about "<" or ">". ("Not as much as..." will mean "<" in the vast majority of cases.)

E.g.,
The effort involved in washing clothes is not nearly as great as it was before the advent of electric washing machines.
"”> In this sentence, it's quite obvious that "not as great as" means "<", not "≠".

[RonPurewal]

His knowledge springs NOT SO MUCH from experience AS from schooling.

His knowledge springs NOT AS MUCH from experience AS from schooling.

So, technically, either of these could make sense.

Stylistically, though, you won't see the second one. If that's the intended meaning, you'll see it as "less from experience than from schooling".

[OmkarP211]

Hi RonPurewal

Thanks for the detailed explanation. It helped a lot!

-Omkar

[jnelson0612]

Hi RonPurewal

Thanks for the detailed explanation. It helped a lot!

-Omkar

Good to hear!