What does ほど Mean?

ほど means less than or not as much . This Japanese participle follows nouns and verbs to compare or measure things.  So, ほど is a necessity to have in your repertoire for talking about quantities in Japanese. Let’s see all the ways we can use this word.

ほど means Less Than or Not as Much as

ほど let’s you know when something is less than or not as much as something else. 

家いえは一階いっかいは二階にかいほど温あたたかくない
in my house the first floor is not as warm as the second

Take a look at the sentence above. Notice that we said 温あたたかくない instead of 温かい. Remember that these sentences become negative. The reason is because the topic is the lesser quantity.  However, if you don’t want to use a negative, you can swap the words around and use より instead. 

より – What does Yori mean? Comparing with より

I explain more about this particle in the article above. But, you can use ほど in positive sentences also.

https://japaneseuniverse.com/2024/02/18/pac-man-in-japaneseconcepts-behind-development-to-global-icon/

ほど means How Much or the Extent of Something

You will use ほど also in positive sentences when you want to say to what extent something is, big, old, or any other attribute you can think of. 

待まてないほどおなかが空すいている 
I am so hungry that I can’t wait

これほど美うつくしい夕日ゆうひは見みたことがない
I have never seen such a beautiful sunset

すればするほど、… The more you do the more you …

ほど tells you when two things increase together. 

読よめば読むほど、頭あたまがよくなる
The more you read the smarter you become

This is the same as in English saying, the more X the more Y. 

運動うんどうすればするほど、強つよくなる
The more you exercise the stronger you get

ほどがある There is a Limit to Everything

ほどがある is more of a phrase by itself. It basically means that there are limits. It is said when wanting to tell someone they may have done, or said more than is acceptable. 

冗談じょうだんにもほどがある
Jokes have limits

ほど is used all the time for comparing, contrasting, or explaining the degree of things. Hopefully, this made it a bit easier to understand. If you like learning Japanese Grammar then check out some of my other posts. 

Also, if you want to learn more Japanese I reviewed a dictionary of grammar series which I personally recommend and use myself.