half as much again

Question

•half/twice etc as much again

used for comparing two amounts and saying how much more one amount is than the other A house in London costs half as much again as a house in Edinburgh.

I am not sure.... In this case "half as much again"....

A house in London costs half as much again as a house in Edinburgh.

¿La casa en Londres cuesta más del doble que una casa en Edimburgo?

Answer 1

'¿La casa en Londres cuesta más del doble que una casa en Edimburgo?'

If I'm translating the spanish correctly, (this could be a big IF!) it would translate in english to - ' A house in London costs more than double the amount of a house in Edinburgh.' Correct?

Soo not the same as the 'half as much again'

Half as much again - London £150,000 (jajaja!) Edinburgh £100,000

Twice as much again - actually as a 50-yr-old native english speaker I would still think 'do they mean twice as much or 3 times as much and would ask them to clarify! Anyone else have a clear definition for that one?

Twice as much - London £200,000 Edinburgh £100,000

You are working hard!!! :D

Answer 2

Does it mean "50% more than it costs a house in Edinburgh"?

If a house in Edinburgh costs 100, the house in London costs 150.

Is that OK?.

you've got it! - Izanoni1, MAR 4, 2010

Answer 3

So your trying to say that the house in London costs 50% more...hmmm. I don't think there's really an easy way to say that...

Either is acceptable to say in English....

• This house costs half as much again as the other

• This house costs one-and-a-half times as much as the other

In the Oxford English Dictionary entry under "much" it gives:

Repetition of quantity: Once repeated;

• as much again = this and as much more, twice as much;

• half as much again = this and half as much more, one-and-a-half times as much.

I would suggest that this phrase is probably not as common as the equivalent "amount + times + as much" expression, but there is nothing wrong with using it. It seems to me that older generations use this expression more than the younger generations do, but I am not sure whether this is due to the fact that the word is somewhat old-fashioned or due to the fact that the younger generations have a poorer vocabulary than their predecessors.

really?? i have never heard of using "again" before.....strange... - hlsbookworm, MAR 4, 2010

Answer 4

Does it mean "50% more than it costs a house in Edinburgh"?

If a house in Edinburgh costs 100, the house in London costs 150.

Is that OK?.

So your trying to say that the house in London costs 50% more...hmmm. I don't think there's really an easy way to say that...You could just say "The house in London costs more than the house in Edinburgh". Or you could just say the prices..."The house in London costs 150 but/and the house in Edinburgh costs 100."

Forgive me for my insistence, but, the phrase "half as much again" is an acceptable way to say "base amount plus 50%". - Moe, MAR 4, 2010

Answer 5

You could say

"A house in London costs half as much as a house in Edinburgh".

But, don't use again. So, half as much is fine.

Or, if you were saying that the house in London costs more, you could say:

"A house in London costs twice as much as a house in Edinburgh"

As I said earlier though, you still don't use again.

I would use 'again' with half but it's maybe an old old habit if you say it isn't correct :P - galsally, MAR 4, 2010

hlsbookworm - I cannot agree with you. "Half as much again" means a base amount plus 50%, so, if $100 is the base amount, half as much again is $150. - Moe, MAR 4, 2010

On the other hand, if the base amount is $100 then twice as much as the base amount is $200. - Moe, MAR 4, 2010

Answer 6

"as much again" and "half as much again" have been in use as expressions for the past 400 years. (200% and 150%, respectively)

Answer 7

Thank you.