程

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 程(ほど) expresses degree or amount, describing the extent reached by what precedes it.
• Basic usage: It describes a crowd so large that there was not even room to stand.
  • 会場には立つ場所もない程の人が集まった。

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Approximate amount and degree
  • 十分ほど expresses an approximate duration of ten minutes, while 立つ場所もないほど expresses the degree of crowding: enough to leave no standing room.
• The more … the more
  • 練習すればするほど means that the following change develops as the amount of practice increases.