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Glite Dictionary
to amount to

to amount to

229 3.1
Be the same as something, often a bad result
  • phrasal verb
  • /əˈmaʊnt tu/
translation icon : equivaler a
  • At the end of the last administration, our national debt amounted to three trillion dollars.
  • amount to millions of dollars
  • amount to 80 percent
  • amount to millions

And let's say that amounts to three times a week, OK.

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Examples

  • But it amounts to the same thing, so...

    Blades of Glory (2007)

  • This misrepresentation rule means that mere failure to perform what one has promised doesn't amount to fraud.

  • Yes I get it and I know this, but it does not amount to what else is out there.

  • That would amount to a much greater sum.

    The Maltese Falcon (1941)

  • So this part amounts to essentially what I have over here.

  • If you think about it, taxation amounts to the taking of earnings.

  • Thus, the independent loss to each business did not amount to double-counting of damages.

    Academic text (1990)

  • The fines, including those attended upon your arrest, amount to 3,111 dollars, which happens to be exactly the amount we collected.

    Cabrini (2024)

  • Now notice what he's going to bring up here, which amounts to a form of karma.

    Gregory B. Sadler - That Philosophy Guy

  • The total expenses for the project amount to over $50,000.

Synonyms

to make
vsto amount to
489 2.8

To add amounts to reach a total

is about being equal to a result rather than calculating it
to come to
vsto amount to
276 2.9

Add up to a certain total

is about equality as a result rather than the calculation process
to amount
vsto amount to
251 3.4

To add up to a certain total or result

is about being equal as a result or consequence
to equal
vsto amount to
245 1.0

To make something the same in value or amount as another

focuses more on equality especially as a consequence
to equate
vsto amount to
  • Specialized
25 4.1

Make two numbers or expressions equal to each other

is used broadly to state sameness often about outcomes not proofs

Antonyms

to fall short of
25 4.4

To not reach the level people expect

How Much

to the tune of
  • Literature
26 6.1
total
443 1.0
to amount to
229 3.1
some
∞ 1.0
a little
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

amount to infinitive
amounted to past
amounted to past participle
amounting to present participle
amounts to third person singular

Morphology

amount + to

The verb 'amount' already encodes 'add up / equal' and the preposition 'to' simply marks the target or result, so the combined meaning 'to total / be equal to X' is directly compositional. This pattern is common across languages (e.g. Spanish 'ascender a', French 's'élever à'), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents should readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Amount to comes from the simple idea of adding things until you reach a total: picture coins put together until they amount to a sum. So the phrase now means 'to be equal to' or 'to result in' something.