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In many cases these words all translate to how much when paired with Настолько, так, столько. But I can't understand in what situations each one is used. Would someone be so kind to explain their use? Thanks.

For example— Я знаю это так же хорошо, как и ты, Маркус.—I know that as well as you, marcus.

or is it better (настолько, насколько) or (столько, сколько)

Are the interchangeable?

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    Those words have different meaning. Will you please clarify what you want to say with that sentence, write it in English, only then it will be possible to say which of those Russian words should be used.
    – Yellow Sky
    Commented Mar 31, 2017 at 8:35

1 Answer 1

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In your example sentence:

Я знаю это так же хорошо, как и ты, Маркус.

changing так to настолько will still yield a grammatically correct sentence with almost the same meaning. Настолько же means 'to the same extent/amount'. It can be paired with как as above, or насколько:

Я знаю это настолько же хорошо, как и ты, Маркус.

Я знаю это настолько же хорошо, насколько и ты, Маркус.

You can't use сколько here. Так and настолько are pronomial adverbs, while столько is a pronomial numeral, so you can only use it in place of a numeral:

У меня пять яблок. - I've got five apples.

У меня столько же яблок, сколько и у тебя. - I've got as many apples as you.

Как seems to be the universal pair as it can match сколько as well:

У меня столько же яблок, как и у тебя.

Hope this helps.

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  • You may add that столько can also be paired with как.
    – Yellow Sky
    Commented Mar 31, 2017 at 10:51
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    @ Sergey Slepov What about sentences of this type?—Он не столько поэт, сколько прозаик. He is not so much a poet as a novelist.// Я не столько хочу уехать от Бонни, сколько... (It doesn't relate to a numeral).
    – VCH250
    Commented Mar 31, 2017 at 11:55
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    @VCH250, "не (на)столько... (на)сколько" is one of a kind. Your translation is right: "not so much ... as ..." Столько and сколько are adverbs here: Я решил рискнуть не столько ради места, сколько ради новизны ощущения. - I decided to take the risk not so much for the sake of (getting) the place as the novelty of feelings. The same can be used as numerals: Он получил не столько, на сколько рассчитывал. - He got not as much as what he expected. Commented Apr 3, 2017 at 19:26

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