Conveying 'as ~ as I would have liked'


What's the best way to convey sentences like:

  1. His arguments didn't seem as convincing as I would have liked
  2. Last week, I couldn't study Japanese as much as I would have liked

The best I could muster up was 期待通り since both of these involve some form of
expectation. But I'm not too sure if it sounds natural/makes sense.




You can use 思ったほど, (私が)期待していたほど, 考えていたほど, etc.

> 彼の議論には、(こちらが)期待していたほど(は)説得力がないようだった。  
>  彼の意見には私が思うほどの説得力はなさそうだった。
>
> His arguments didn't seem as convincing as I would have liked/expected.

If you want to use 期待通り, you have to be careful not to change the meaning:

>   * 彼の議論には、期待通り説得力がないようだった。  
>  (私が)思った通り、彼の意見には説得力がなさそうだった。  
>  As I had expected, his arguments didn't seem convincing.
>   * 彼の議論には、期待通り **の** 説得力がないようだった。  
>  彼の意見には(私が)思った通り **の** 説得力がなさそうだった。  
>  His arguments didn't seem to be as convincing as I expected.
>




You can use 思ったほど, (私が)期待していたほど, 考えていたほど, etc.

> 彼の議論には、(こちらが)期待していたほど(は)説得力がないようだった。  
>  彼の意見には私が思うほどの説得力はなさそうだった。
>
> His arguments didn't seem as convincing as I would have liked/expected.

If you want to use 期待通り, you have to be careful not to change the meaning:

>   * 彼の議論には、期待通り説得力がないようだった。  
>  (私が)思った通り、彼の意見には説得力がなさそうだった。  
>  As I had expected, his arguments didn't seem convincing.
>   * 彼の議論には、期待通り **の** 説得力がないようだった。  
>  彼の意見には(私が)思った通り **の** 説得力がなさそうだった。  
>  His arguments didn't seem to be as convincing as I expected.
>

