Not as... as I thought. 思ったほど......ないです.

I just learned the Japanese expression 思ったほど......ないです。Let me explain the meaning and how we use this expression in English.

If we have an expectation or an idea of how something will be, we can say "I think..." Please read these examples:

"I think the test will be difficult." OR

"I think Tom Cruise is tall."

If our idea is not correct or not what we expected we can use the past tense of think - thought - and use the expression... "It's not as ......... as I thought."

思ったほど......ないです。

Let's use our original examples again with the new pattern.

"The test was not as difficult as I thought."
テストが思ったほど難しくないです。






"Tom Cruise is not as tall as I thought."

トムクルーズが思ったほど高くないです。




For me, I thought all Japanese food was delicious. BUT natto is not as tasty as I thought!

---