1 When you want to say something is similar, use 'as – as'.
For example, "She's as tall as her brother" or "It's as nice today as it was yesterday."
2 When you want to say one thing is less than another, you can either use 'less than' or 'not as – as'.
For example, "This programme is less interesting than I thought" or "This programme is not as interesting as I thought."
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Making Comparisons with (not) as…as
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The comparative as…as expresses that two items have equivalent aspects of quality (Adj) or manner (Adv). The second as is a preposition that “heads” the prepositional phrase which takes a noun or a clause as its complement. Typically, the clause is reduced to the subject or the auxiliary form of the verb.
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Adjectives
(qualities)
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The pants are just as comfortable as my jeans.
I don’t look as scruffy as I did.
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Adverbs
(How something is done)
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I tried as hard as I could to find the right style for her.
I don’t like short hair as much as long hair.
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Nouns
(quantities)
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She spends as little time as possible on her makeup.
She doesn’t wear as many bright colors as she should
He doesn’t pay as much attention to his appearance as he should.
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Equality : … as ------- as… (positive sentence)
Inequality : …not as ----------- as … (negative sentence)
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ADJECTIVE
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*The apple is as heavy.
The apple is as heavy as the orange (is).
The apple is as light as the orange (is).
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ADVERB
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An apple grows as slowly as an orange (does).
An apple falls to the ground as quickly as an orange (does).
Henry is acting as crazily as ever.
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NOUNS
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Henry made as many mistakes on the test as Vivian (did).
Jerry lost as much money at the casino as Tim (did).
Jerry lost as many dollars at the casino as Tim did.
My bedroom doesn’t have as many windows as my bedroom does.
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SIMILES WITH AS…AS (When you compare one thing to another thing of a different kind. The purpose is to make an emphatic comparison.)
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My father is as stubborn as a mule. // My sister is as brave as a lion.
Answer these questions with your own opinion. Use as…as or not as … as.
1. Are older people just as interested in fashion as young people?
2. Do older people care as much about their appearance as young people?
3. Do you spend as little time as possible shopping for clothes?
4. Are makeover shows as interesting as other reality shows on TV?
Discuss your answers. Explain your views. Do you all agree?
A: It seems to me that older people are just as interested in fashion as young people.
B: I’m not sure. I don’t think older people are as interested.
C: Well, my mother is a lot more interested in fashion than I am!
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Further information
Further information
Inequality: adjectives
We can show that two things are not equal using not + as + adjective + as
When we use this structure, the first thing mentioned is 'less' than the second thing. (The order of the things you are comparing is opposite to that used in comparisons with comparative adjectives.)
This one isn't as big as the old one.
(The old one is bigger than this one.)
Jenny's new flat isn't as nice as her old one.
(Jenny's old flat is nicer than her new one.)
Paris isn't as big as Tokyo
(Tokyo is bigger than Paris.)
Contractions
You can contract the subject / verb to be / not in two ways:
It isn't as big as...
OR
It's not as big as...
(There is no difference in meaning)
We can show that two things are not equal using not + as + adjective + as
When we use this structure, the first thing mentioned is 'less' than the second thing. (The order of the things you are comparing is opposite to that used in comparisons with comparative adjectives.)
This one isn't as big as the old one.
(The old one is bigger than this one.)
Jenny's new flat isn't as nice as her old one.
(Jenny's old flat is nicer than her new one.)
Paris isn't as big as Tokyo
(Tokyo is bigger than Paris.)
Contractions
You can contract the subject / verb to be / not in two ways:
It isn't as big as...
OR
It's not as big as...
(There is no difference in meaning)
Inequality: verb + adverbs
We can use the as....as structure to compare actions. Again, the order of the things compared is the opposite to that in a comparison with comparative adverbs.
It doesn't work as well as we'd hoped.
(We'd hoped it would work better than it does.)
Michael didn't play as well this week as he did last week.
(Michael played better last week than he did this week.)
We can use the as....as structure to compare actions. Again, the order of the things compared is the opposite to that in a comparison with comparative adverbs.
It doesn't work as well as we'd hoped.
(We'd hoped it would work better than it does.)
Michael didn't play as well this week as he did last week.
(Michael played better last week than he did this week.)
inequality: quantity
The as...as structure is often used with quantity expressions such as 'much' and 'many'.
This phone doesn't have as many features as the other one.
(The other phone has more features than this one.)
My ticket didn't cost as much as yours.
(Your ticket cost more than mine.)
The as...as structure is often used with quantity expressions such as 'much' and 'many'.
This phone doesn't have as many features as the other one.
(The other phone has more features than this one.)
My ticket didn't cost as much as yours.
(Your ticket cost more than mine.)
Inequality: noun phrases
We can use not + such + noun phrase + as to compare things using noun phrases.
The journey to London doesn't take such a long time as it used to.
(The journey to London used to take longer.)
I don't have such an interesting job as Julia.
(Julia has a more interesting job than I do.)
We can use not + such + noun phrase + as to compare things using noun phrases.
The journey to London doesn't take such a long time as it used to.
(The journey to London used to take longer.)
I don't have such an interesting job as Julia.
(Julia has a more interesting job than I do.)
Inequality: modifying with adverbs nearly, quite, nowhere near
When we want to show that there is a big or a small difference between the things being compared we can use the adverbs 'nearly', 'nowhere near' and 'quite'.
Emphasizing a big difference:
England isn't nearly as big as Russia.
England is nowhere near as big as Russia.
(Russia is much bigger than England.)
My shoes didn't cost nearly as much as yours.
My shoes cost nowhere near as much as yours.
(Your shoes cost much more than mine.)
There aren't nearly as many people here today as there were yesterday.
There are nowhere near as many people here today as there were yesterday.
(There were far more people here yesterday than there are today.)
Setting up a business isn't nearly such a complicated process now as it used to be.
Setting up a business is nowhere near such a complicated process now as it used to be.
(Setting up a business used to be a much more complicated process than it is now.)
Emphasizing a small difference:
My flat isn't quite as big as Jenny's.
(Jenny's flat is a little / a bit / slightly bigger than mine.)
The journey didn't take quite as long as it did last time.
(The journey took a little / a bit / slightly longer last time.)
It isn't quite such a nice restaurant as the one we used before.
(The restaurant we used before was a little / a bit / slightly nicer.)
When we want to show that there is a big or a small difference between the things being compared we can use the adverbs 'nearly', 'nowhere near' and 'quite'.
Emphasizing a big difference:
England isn't nearly as big as Russia.
England is nowhere near as big as Russia.
(Russia is much bigger than England.)
My shoes didn't cost nearly as much as yours.
My shoes cost nowhere near as much as yours.
(Your shoes cost much more than mine.)
There aren't nearly as many people here today as there were yesterday.
There are nowhere near as many people here today as there were yesterday.
(There were far more people here yesterday than there are today.)
Setting up a business isn't nearly such a complicated process now as it used to be.
Setting up a business is nowhere near such a complicated process now as it used to be.
(Setting up a business used to be a much more complicated process than it is now.)
Emphasizing a small difference:
My flat isn't quite as big as Jenny's.
(Jenny's flat is a little / a bit / slightly bigger than mine.)
The journey didn't take quite as long as it did last time.
(The journey took a little / a bit / slightly longer last time.)
It isn't quite such a nice restaurant as the one we used before.
(The restaurant we used before was a little / a bit / slightly nicer.)
Equality: adjectives, adverbs, quantity
We can use the as...as structure in a positive form to show that things are the same.
Adjectives
My cooking is as good as yours.
(The quality of my cooking is the same as yours.)
Adverbs
I can sing as well as you can.
(My ability to sing is the same as yours.)
Quantity
There are as many people here who can speak Chinese as English.
(The numbers of people here who can speak Chinese and English are the same.)
We can use the as...as structure in a positive form to show that things are the same.
Adjectives
My cooking is as good as yours.
(The quality of my cooking is the same as yours.)
Adverbs
I can sing as well as you can.
(My ability to sing is the same as yours.)
Quantity
There are as many people here who can speak Chinese as English.
(The numbers of people here who can speak Chinese and English are the same.)
Equality: modifying with adverbs nearly and quite
When we use nearly and quite to modify positive as...as sentences, the meanings are different.
Small differences: nearly
With a positive as...as structure, 'nearly' shows a small difference
David is nearly as tall as Michael.
(Small difference: Michael is only a little taller than David.)
Compare this with the negative sentence:
David isn't nearly as tall as Michael.
(Big difference: Michael is much taller than David.)
Using 'quite' and 'just' for emphasis
If we want to emphasize that two things are the same, (for example, because the person we are speaking to may not accept what we are saying) we can use
'quite' and 'just':
A: You're a terrible tennis player!
B: I'm just as good as you!
This phone is quite as good as that one even if it does cost less.
Comparisons with Nouns
Up to now we have used adjectives in our comparisons.
Dan is tall. (Tall is describing the noun Dan.)
Dan is taller than Mai.
Notice that we are using the verb "be" (am, is, are, was, were) with adjectives. We also use adjectives with the verbs taste, feel, look, seem, sound, appear
The coffee tastes good.
Your coffee tastes better than my coffee.
My coffee doesn't taste as good as your coffee.
You look tired.
You look more tired than I do.
I don't look as tired as you do.
I feel terrible.
I feel more terrible about it than they do.
They don't feel as terrible about as I do.
You seem confused.
You seem more confused about the problem than I do.
I don't seem as confused about the problem as you do.
We can compare adjectives, but we can also compare the quantity or the amount of a noun.
MORE
Dan has 3 books. Mai has two books.
Now you can compare the quantity/number of books.
Dan has more books than May (does).
There are more people in New York City than in Seattle.
Dan drinks more tea than coffee.
There is more rainfall in Seattle than in Los Angeles.
FEWER (use this with count nouns)
Mai has fewer books than Dan does.
There are fewer people in Seattle than in New York City.
LESS (use this with non-count nouns)
Dan drinks less coffee than tea.
There is less rainfall in Seattle than in Los Angeles.
Equality & Inequality using AS MANY ...AS AS MUCH ... AS
If you have the same number or quantity of something.
Count Nouns = As many --- as
Henry made five mistakes on the test. Vivian made five mistakes on the test.
Henry made as many mistakes on the test as Vivian (did).
Non Count Nouns = As much ... as
Jerry lost $200 at the casino. Tim lost $200 dollar at the casino.
Jerry lost as much money at the casino as Tim (did).
You can't count the noun "money." However, remember that you can count the word dollar. You can put an "s" on the word dollar---dollars.
Jerry lost as many dollars at the casino as Tim did.
Inequality = Not the same number Not As Many ...As Not As Much ...As
Count Nouns - Not As Many ... As (The same meaning as fewer than.)
My living room has 4 windows. My bedroom has two windows.
My bedroom doesn't have as many windows as my bedroom does.
My bedroom has fewer windows than my living room does.
Small differences: nearly
With a positive as...as structure, 'nearly' shows a small difference
David is nearly as tall as Michael.
(Small difference: Michael is only a little taller than David.)
Compare this with the negative sentence:
David isn't nearly as tall as Michael.
(Big difference: Michael is much taller than David.)
Using 'quite' and 'just' for emphasis
If we want to emphasize that two things are the same, (for example, because the person we are speaking to may not accept what we are saying) we can use
'quite' and 'just':
A: You're a terrible tennis player!
B: I'm just as good as you!
This phone is quite as good as that one even if it does cost less.
Dan is tall. (Tall is describing the noun Dan.)
Dan is taller than Mai.
Notice that we are using the verb "be" (am, is, are, was, were) with adjectives. We also use adjectives with the verbs taste, feel, look, seem, sound, appear
The coffee tastes good.
Your coffee tastes better than my coffee.
My coffee doesn't taste as good as your coffee.
You look tired.
You look more tired than I do.
I don't look as tired as you do.
I feel terrible.
I feel more terrible about it than they do.
They don't feel as terrible about as I do.
You seem confused.
You seem more confused about the problem than I do.
I don't seem as confused about the problem as you do.
Now you can compare the quantity/number of books.
There are more people in New York City than in Seattle.
Dan drinks more tea than coffee.
There is more rainfall in Seattle than in Los Angeles.
FEWER (use this with count nouns)
There are fewer people in Seattle than in New York City.
LESS (use this with non-count nouns)
There is less rainfall in Seattle than in Los Angeles.
Count Nouns = As many --- as
Henry made five mistakes on the test. Vivian made five mistakes on the test.
Henry made as many mistakes on the test as Vivian (did).
Jerry lost $200 at the casino. Tim lost $200 dollar at the casino.
Jerry lost as much money at the casino as Tim (did).
Jerry lost as many dollars at the casino as Tim did.
My bedroom doesn't have as many windows as my bedroom does.
My bedroom has fewer windows than my living room does.
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