Translation Challenge: “as…as…”

How does one tackle the challenge of translating the highly versatile and meaningful English construction “as…as…”?

Find out as I break the structure down into its most common variants and give you translations with pinyin along the way.

As fast as possible / as soon as possible
尽快 jǐnkuài

Tā jǐnkuài wánchéng le zhè xiàng rènwù.
他尽快完成了这项任务。
He completed the task as fast as he could.

Wǒ huì jǐnkuài huíxìn.
我会尽快回信。
I will write back as soon as possible.

Bié jí, wǒ huì jǐnkuài dàodá.
别急,我会尽快到达。
Don’t worry, I’ll be there as soon as I can.

As much as possible
尽全力 – jìn quánlì / 尽力 – jìnlì or 尽量 jìnliàng or 尽可能 jǐnkěnéng

Wǒmen yīnggāi jìn quánlì bǎohù wǒmen de chuántǒng.
我们应该尽全力保护我们的传统。
We should preserve our traditions as much as possible.

Wǒ jìn quánlì qù pǎo le.
我尽全力去跑了。
I ran as fast as I could.

Wǒ huì jìnliàng zhàogù hǎo mèimei.
我会尽量照顾好妹妹。
I will do my best to look after my younger sister.

Wǒmen yīnggāi jǐnkěnéng de qù bǎohù rénquán.
我们应该尽可能地去保护人权。
We should try to protect human rights as much as possible.

As many X as possible
No exact correspondence; use a free translation

Wǒ nǔlì qù chángshì zhe mài piào, dànshì méiyǒu rén lǐcǎi wǒ.
我努力去尝试着卖票,但是没有人理睬我。 
I tried to sell as many tickets as I could, but no one noticed me.

Mùbiāo jiùshì fēn qǔdé de yuè duō yuè hǎo.
目标就是分取得的越多越好。
The objective is to get as many points as possible.

Wǒmen yīnggāi bǎ zhège guǎnggào fāgěi zuìduō de rénshù.
我们应该把这个广告发给最多的人数。
We should send the advertisement to as many people as possible.

As X as X
No exact correpsondence; use a free translation

Tā yuǎn méiyǒu wǒ zhǎng de gāo.
他远没有我长得高。
He’s nowher near as tall as me.

Zhège chǎnpǐn shì hěn piányi, dàn què yuǎn méiyǒu nàgè chǎnpǐn xiàolǜ gāo.
这个产品是很便宜,但却远没有那个产品效率高。
This product is just as cheap but not as effective as the other one.

Xiǎng shēn zhuàng rú hǔ dehuà jiù yào píngshí duōduō duànliàn!
想身壮如虎的话就要平时多多锻炼!
If you want to be as strong as an ox ["tiger"] you have to work out a whole lot!

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