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What is the capital of Tunisia?

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What is the capital of Tunisia?

How does “plus beaucoup de [qqch]” = “not much of [something]”?

"Plus beaucoup" means "not much any more", or "not any longer" (Macmillan).

In the present usage,
the Wiktionnaire calls this word an adverb, but the TLFi calls it just a particle.

"Plus" is a tricky word as it can be an adverb of quantity, a preposition that has the meaning of addition, and finally a negative particle
((TLFi) I. − Adv. de quantité — II. − Prép. ou subst. masc. marquant l’addition — III. − Particule négative.). The second and the third can be confused with one another.

(TLFi)
III . − Particule négative. Pas/non/ne… plus
B . − [Valeur négative, servant à marquer la cessation d’une action, d’un état]
Anton. encore, toujours. Ne… plus; ne… presque plus; ne… plus guère*; ne… plus du tout*, ne… plus longtemps*, ne… plus rien.
1 . [Par rapport à l’avenir, sert à marquer la cessation de ce qui est] Désormais… ne pas. Ne plus savoir que faire; ne… presque plus, ne… plus guère*, ne… plus du tout
♦ Finis-la, ton histoire, et qu’on n’en parle plus (Péguy, Myst. charité, 1910

The given definition is given as a general guide towards the sense because the particular particular construction involved is missing in the dictionary. It is not mentioned in the Wiktionnaire either.

  • I don’t have the time any more.
    Je n’ai plus le temps. (À un certain moment dans le passé, alors que jusque là j’avais le temps, cela a changé, et depuis je n’ai jamais le temps.)

  • I don’t have much money any more.
    Je n’ai plus beaucoup d’argent. (Par le passé j’avais de l’argent mais maintenant j’en ai peu.)

With exactly the same meaning, "plus" is used in a noun group without the particle "ne", and beginning with "sans plus de". You will notice that the phrase "avec plus beaucoup de… " is not found. Is only found "sans plus beaucoup de…".

The point here is that colloquially people will use "avec" whereas the standard word is "sans", without the least bit of a change in meaning; the word is exactly the contrary, which is a staggering fact. This shows that the trickiness of the word is not the sole problem of foreign learners. I have no reference for that, it is just a fact that I realize now, but of which I feel quite certain. Here are a few cases of use of the "right" form. (It is literary form and it is somewhat rare.)

(ref. 1991) Dès lors on peut bien lui expliquer, dans son entourage, qu’Antenne 2 est « une télévision arriérée, sans équilibre , sans vrais projets et sans plus beaucoup de talents » , ou que l’expérience Hachette sur la Cinq était perdue d’avance

(ref. 1971) J’ai lutté , je me suis défendu , je suis un vieux lion sans plus beaucoup de dents , mais mes rugissements , il a bien fallu qu’ils les entendent !

(ref. 1935) e serai quelque part , « sous les ombres myrteux » , comme dit notre grand ami immortel qu’Albert relit en ce moment , et sans plus beaucoup de substance sur mes os bien nettoyés.

(ref. 1981) …une certaine simplification dans la théorie orthodoxe moderne, sans plus beaucoup de sensibilité aux antinomies qui sont ici en cause ( et que respectait Serge Bulgakov , par exemple).

(ref. 1990) De ceux qui, les plus sévères, jugent Ventadour comme un nouveau Palais idéal du Facteur Cheval, sans plus beaucoup de vérité patrimoniale , ou des autres , les plus conciliants , qui jugent essentiellement le dynamisme et la réussite d’une action sociale, qui a tort, qui a raison ?

The translation "not much vision" is essentially correct; the comparison with the past (any more) is missing but it is evident that what is meant is that the level of the vision is low in comparison to what it used to be.

Note Although this form would seem to elicit such forms as "sans plus trop de…" and "sans plus assez de…", they are not found. I, myself, would find them natural.

Considering there is already an exhaustive answer going through the various meanings of plus on this site I will only try to clarify the meaning of the sentence in OP’s question:

Puis moi, je me suis retrouvée avec… plus beaucoup de vision.

I Plus de…

First let’s point out this is spoken language, it is correct but colloquial and, if it was to be written in a formal way, it could be:

  • Puis moi, je me suis retrouvée à n’avoir plus beaucoup de vision.
  • À la fin il ne me restait plus beaucoup de vision.

So plus here is part of the negation ne…plus. As such it can be used in a colloquial way on its own, part of the sentence being omitted.

  • Je voulais me faire un sandwich mais… plus de pain!

In this last sentence we can consider that il n’y a (or je n’ai plus) has been omitted (je n’ai plus de pain/il n’y a plus de pain1).

In order to further clarify the matter let’s compare this plus in a different example.

  • a) Je ne mange plus de pain parce que je suis allergique au gluten.

  • b) Je n’ai pas eu le temps de faire les courses et je n’ai plus de pain.

    a) is about a similar action compared then and now.
    b) compares quantities, a certain quantity of something vs the absence/disappearance of this something.

II The role of beaucoup in OP’s sentence.

Here beaucoup is an adverb that modifies plus. Instead of it having completely disappeared, there’s still some left but not much. So the lady who is speaking has lost some of her vision but still has some left. And I think DeepL’s translation would have been clearer as: "Then I found myself with… not much vision left".

III Additional comments

1. When one reads plus de pain it is impossible to know what is meant without context ("more bread" or "no more bread"?). It isn’t a problem when speaking since it is pronounced differently: [plys] (as in Je veux plus de pain) vs [ply] (as in je me suis retrouvée avec plus beaucoup de vision).

2. Where beaucoup is placed changes the meaning of the sentence. Let’s consider :

  • a) Je me suis retrouvée avec plus beaucoup de vision.

  • b) Je me suis retrouvée avec beaucoup plus de vision.

    a) [ply]
    She’s lost a certain amount of vision.
    b) [plys] She’s gained a certain amount of vision.


1 I have/there’s no bread left.

 

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What is the capital of Tunisia?