About ...ほど constructions


Here, I already asked about a sentence containing a ほど construction, and
chocolate was so kind to give me a nice, comprehensive answer :=) ("[Issues
with this sentence](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/52228/issues-
with-this-sentence/52252#52252)")

However, a follow up question came to my mind now, which might even sound a
bit silly:  
In my textbook, ほど constructions are always used in that way:

> インフルエンザの予防注射は思っていたほど痛くなかったです。  
>  Concerning the Influenza immunisation, it didn't hurt to the extent that I
> thought.

The keypoint: After ほど, a negation follows. And it's always like that in my
textbook. "it **didn't**...to the extent..."

Is it possible for ほど constructions to be followed by a positive statement as
well? Like: "Concerning the influenza immunisation, it did hurt to the extent
that I thought"? Or are other constructions used for this kind of statement?




Yes ほど can be safely used in positive sentences, but it means something more
like "to the point where ～" or "so ～ that ～".

Examples:

>   * 目に見えるほど大きい。 It is big enough to be visible to the eye.
>   * びっくりするほど高かった。 It was surprisingly expensive.
>   * 眠れないほど嬉しいです。 I am too happy to sleep.
>   * インフルエンザの予防接種は泣き叫ぶほど痛かった。  
>  The flu shot was so painful that I (almost) cried.
>




Yes ほど can be safely used in positive sentences, but it means something more
like "to the point where ～" or "so ～ that ～".

Examples:

>   * 目に見えるほど大きい。 It is big enough to be visible to the eye.
>   * びっくりするほど高かった。 It was surprisingly expensive.
>   * 眠れないほど嬉しいです。 I am too happy to sleep.
>   * インフルエンザの予防接種は泣き叫ぶほど痛かった。  
>  The flu shot was so painful that I (almost) cried.
>

