As much as you like/want

hirashin

Sempai

Donor

8 Apr 2004

2,721

63

• 30 Jun 2012

• #1

Hello, native English speakers,
Which sentences would be used ?
(a) You can drink coffee as much as you want.
(b) You can drink coffee as much as you like.
(c) You can drink as much coffee as you want.
(d) You can drink as much coffee as you like.
I want it to mean "sukinadake koohii nonde(mo) iiyo.
Thanks in advance.
Hirashin

 

Glenn

一切皆苦

8 Jan 2004

7,842

200

• 1 Jul 2012

• #2

ﾂ好窶堋ｫ窶堙遺?堋ｾ窶堋ｯﾆ坦ﾂーﾆ智ﾂーﾋ?ｹ窶堙ｱ窶堙??堙?窶堋｢窶堋｢窶堙ｦ is more focused on the amount that it's OK to drink at that moment in time, right? In that case I'd say "you can drink/have as much coffee as you like." I feel like "have" would be more common here, actually. I'm not sure if it actually is, or why I feel that way, though.

Now, a) and b) are more like "you can drink coffee as often as you like," and they focus more on occasions than quantity to me. So they'd be more like ﾆ坦ﾂーﾆ智ﾂー窶堙ｰ窶堋｢窶堙や?堙??堙?ﾋ?ｹ窶堙ｱ窶堙??堙?窶堋｢窶堋｢窶堙ｦ or something like that, I guess.

I'm curious to see what other native English speakers have to say about this.

 

hirashin

Sempai

Donor

8 Apr 2004

2,721

63

• 1 Jul 2012

• Thread starter
• #3

Thank you for the help, Glenn.

I didn't know (d) has a different meaning from (b).

Would using "have" instead of "drink" sound better?
I wonder why. Is it because "have" sounds politer than "drink"?

How about in the case of "eat"? Would you say this?
(e) You can eat as much chocolate as you like.

Is it better to use "have" instead of "eat"?

Hirashin

 

Glenn

一切皆苦

8 Jan 2004

7,842

200

• 2 Jul 2012

• #4

I don't know that it's better; I just think it's probably more common, you know, like how する or やる (or even だ, I guess) can pretty much take the place of any verb. "Eat" and "drink" are perfectly fine.

 

E

eeky

先輩

8 Jun 2010

2,431

22

• 3 Jul 2012

• #5

Glenn said:

I'm curious to see what other native English speakers have to say about this.

Click to expand...

I agree with you. a) and b) focus more on occasion, and c) and d) more on quantity.

 

ClarkH

先輩

29 Mar 2012

104

6

• 3 Jul 2012

• #6

I agree too. A and B are general phrases, almost like something a doctor would say. C, D, and E are like immediate/present tense phrases.