studiousbees:

Back with another grammar post! 만큼 and -느니만큼 look similar, but there’s a small (and important!) difference in their meaning.

만큼

The 만큼 grammar can be used with action verbs; descriptive verbs in the past, present, and future; and nouns. It indicates that what follows 만큼 is similar or equal to what comes before it, or that the two things are of a similar degree. Let’s look at some examples:

• DESCRIPTIVE VERB: -(으)ㄴ 만큼 — 학생이 똑똑한 만큼 성적이 잘 나와요. (Students get better grades depending on how smart they are [Students get grades equivalent to how smart they are].)
• PAST: -(으)ㄴ 만큼

  —

  경훈 씨는 제가 공부한 만큼 공부를 열심히 했어요. (Kyeonghoon studied just as hard as I studied.

• PRESENT: -는 만큼

  —

  뷔페에 갈 때 돈을 내는 만큼 많이 먹어야 돼요. (When you go to a buffet, you should eat as much as you pay for [to the extent that you paid for it, you should eat that much].)

• FUTURE: -(으)ㄹ 만큼 — 아이들이 다 충분히 먹을 수 있을 만큼 음식을 많이 준비해 주세요. (Please prepare a lot of food so that the children will be able to eat enough.)
• NOUN: 만큼 — 동생의 키는 오빠의 키만큼 커요. (My younger brother is as tall as my older brother [My younger brother’s height is as big as my older brother’s height].)
• Please note that with nouns, 만큼 attaches to the noun! When used with descriptive and action verbs, there is an obligatory space.

만큼’s meaning is similar to that of 정도, which expresses the degree of something!

-느니만큼

-느니만큼 is similar to 만큼 in that it expresses the degree of something, but it also expresses a reason for something, similar to -니까. It can be used with action verbs, descriptive verbs, and nouns, in the past and present tenses. It can sometimes be switched with 만큼 as described above, but you lose a bit of that “because” meaning.

• AV PAST: -았/었으니만큼 — 공부를 열심히

  했으니만큼

  성적이 잘 나오겠어요. (Because you studied hard [and to the extent that you studied hard], you should get good grades.)

• DV PAST: -았/었으니만큼 — 배가 고팠으니만큼 많이 먹었어요. (Because I was hungry [and to the extent that I was hungry] I ate a lot.)
• AV PRESENT- -느니만큼 — 열심히 일하느니만큼 피곤해요. (Because I am working hard [and to the extent that I am working hard] I am tired.)
• DV PRESENT- -(으)니만큼 — 공기가 좋지 않으니만큼 마스크를 꼭 챙기세요. (Because the air is not good [and to the extent that it is not good], please wear a mask.)
• NOUN PAST: -였/이었으니만큼 — 가장 간절히 원하던 꿈이었으니만큼 그 꿈을 이루기 위해서 다했어요. (Because it was my most fervently desired dream [and to the extent that it was my most fervently desired dream] I did my best to achieve it.)
• NOUN PRESENT: -(이)니만큼 — 중요한 발표니만큼 준비를 철저하게 해야 돼요. (Because it is an important presentation [and to the extent that it is an important presentation] I must prepare thoroughly].)

Feel free to ask if you have any questions or, if you see any mistakes, please let me know so I can fix them!

Happy studying~