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Here is the sentence :

人数が多ければそれだけお前達が有利になる。

I've difficulties finding information about this word. From the examples I read, it seems to me that, when used after a clause ending in ば its meaning is similar to the ば...ほど construction :

人数が多ければ多いほど前達が有利になる。

The more people there will be, the more advantage you will have.

Is this what それだけ means in this case? And if it is, does it have the same meaning in other constructions?

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Alox
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  • Nice question. I can't really give an authoritative answer as to whether those expressions are equivalent but sounds close. I would have translated it as "You will have an advantage just because there are a lot of you." which feels slightly different in English but, my dictionary gives それだけ as その分だけ, which does sounds the same as 〜ほど. – Tim Mar 27 '14 at 23:50
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    明鏡国語辞典 says: `それだけ〘副〙その程度に応じて。「練習すれば、それだけ上達が速い」` –  Mar 28 '14 at 00:05

2 Answers2

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Your understanding is spot on. In that sentence,

「それだけ」＝「その[分]{ぶん}だけ」 = "just as much"

However, I would be careful about saying that 「[人数]{にんずう}が[多]{おお}ければそれだけ」 means exactly the same thing as 「人数が多ければ多いほど」 in this particular context. This is because the latter phrase puts no limit on the number of people.

Admittedly, I am not familiar with the story, so I have no idea about how many people it is talking about. Knowing the exact context, you are in a better position to decide whether or not 「多ければ多いほど」 can replace the existing phrase.

「それだけ」 does not always mean this. It can mean "only that" or "that is all" in other contexts.

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Your observation is correct. In here, "それ" refers to "(人数が)多い", and "だけ" means "to such an extent" or "as much as".

「人数が多ければそれだけ」 = 「人数が多ければ多いだけ」

Another example:

努力すればそれだけ点数が上がる。
= 努力すれば努力するだけ点数が上がる。 (それ = 努力する)
= 努力すれば努力するほど点数が上がる。
= The more you make an effort, the more your score improves.
naruto
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