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かのように and ほど translate to seems, or look like. I'm confused about the meaning or how to use it, when to use it.

Eddie Kal
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Johannes Karl
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  • Related: [How to use 〜かのよう{に・な・だ}](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/3846/78). – istrasci Oct 04 '22 at 22:10

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X かのよう is just like saying "can almost make us believe that X", being faithful to its connotation. It is used to introduce a 100% counterfactual figure of speech, where the speaker is fully aware that X is not actually happening.

ほど tells equivalence. 「A ほど B」 can be usually translated "so B that A": 天に届くほど高い "so high that (it) reaches to the heavens". However, of course people sometimes use hyperbole. My 天に届くほど高い, in the literal sense, can be only applied to the tower of Babel (or space elevators?), but they may employ it for Tokyo Skytree or Burj Khalifa, which are not remotely true.

broccoli facemask
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  • i see now thank you so much – Johannes Karl Oct 31 '22 at 08:38
  • I generally think of かのよう as basically meaning "as if". For example: 神様が話しているかのようだ = "It's as if God were speaking". (compared to ほど, which is more "so much that") – Foogod Feb 02 '23 at 20:37
  • @Foogod Yes, and what I wanted to emphasize is that かのよう implies that the speaker _believes_ it is not true, not only as suspension of disbelief. – broccoli facemask Feb 20 '23 at 06:56