Comparatives And Superlatives

Comparing Equals

As … as

We use as + adjective/adverb + as to make comparisons when the things we are comparing are equal in some way:

• The world’s tallest living tree is as big as a 36-story skyscraper.
• The weather this summer is as dry as last year. It hasn’t stopped raining for weeks.
• You have to handle it as carefully as you can. It’s quite delicate.

Not as … as

We use not as … as to make comparisons between things which aren’t equal:

• It’s not as heavy as I thought it would be, actually.
• Brad is not as tall as Scarlet.
• She’s not singing as loudly as she can.
• They didn’t play as well as they usually do.

We can modify not as … as by using not quite as or not nearly as, or other adjective:

• The second race was not quite as long as the first one. (The second race was easy but the first one was longer.)
• These new rollerblades are not nearly as comfortable as my old ones. (My old rollerblades are a lot more comfortable than these new ones.)

We can also use not so … as. Not so … as is less common than not as … as:

• The hike was good but not so hard as the cross country skiing we did.

As … as + possibility

We often use expressions of possibility or ability after as … as:

• Can you call me as soon as possible?
• Go to as many places as you can.
• We got out of there as fast as we could.

Comparative addition

As well as, As much as, as many as

When we want to make comparisons referring to quantity, we use as much as with uncountable nouns and as many as with plural nouns:

• Greg makes as much money as Mick but not as much as Neil.
• They try to give them as much freedom as they can.
• There weren’t as many people there as I expected.

We can use as much as and as many as before a number to refer to a large number of something:

• Scientists have discovered a planet which weighs as much as 2,500 times the weight of Earth.
• There were as many as 50 people crowded into the tiny room.

As well as is a multi-word preposition which means ‘in addition to’:

• She likes pizza as well as pasta.
• When they go to Rio de Janeiro, they like surfing as well as skydiving.