daqs kemm

Comparing the Extent of an Event

Level 4

Daqs kemm + clause commonly expresses ‘as much as’.

How It Works

Daqs kemm compares an activity or experience with an extent expressed by another clause. The scale can concern money spent, effort or a response such as rejoicing. The participants need not be the same.

Each verb retains its own agreement and time reference. In Pawlu nefaq daqs kemm nefqet Rita, masculine nefaq describes Pawlu and feminine nefqet describes Rita. An overt pronoun can clarify a participant contrast.

A negative main clause can deny matching the reference amount without denying the reference event. The connector also has emphatic extent uses relating substantial activity to an outcome, so every occurrence need not express numerical equality. Contrast a clausal standard with daqs followed by a noun phrase or personal form. The connector itself does not impose one tense or matching polarity on both clauses.

Examples (3)

  1. Nifraħ daqs kemm tifraħ int meta jaslu t-tfal.

    I rejoice as much as you do when the children arrive.

    Int makes the singular-you reading of tifraħ explicit.

  2. Pawlu nefaq daqs kemm nefqet Rita.

    Pawlu spent as much as Rita did.

    The two spending verbs agree with different subjects.

  3. Ma nfaqtux daqs kemm nefaq Pawlu.

    You did not spend as much as Pawlu did.

    Only the main clause is negative; nfaqtux addresses plural you.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

daqs kemmLevel 4Comparing the Extent of an Event

Learn This First

Compare clause-expressed extents while tracking each clause's participants and polarity, including the lesson's bounded emphatic-extent reading.

Words in This Pattern

kemm