The comparative of equality and inferiority : « as … as »

🔊 The teacher reads for you

Look at these two sentences about the same two mountains. “Djurdjura is higher than Chréa.” “Djurdjura is as beautiful as Chréa.” The first one puts one above the other. The second one puts them side by side — and it uses the adjective without changing it at all. So how does English say that two things are equal, and how does it say that one is below the other?

🎓في نهاية هذا الدرس ستكون قادرا على:

استعمال بنية ⁦as + adjective + as⁩ للتعبير عن التساوي، في الإثبات والنفي والاستفهام
استعمال ⁦less … than · the least …⁩ للتعبير عن الأدنى
تطبيق البنيتين على النعوت القصيرة والطويلة والشاذّة دون تغيير شكل النعت
المقارنة بين معلمين أو شخصيّتين في جملة واحدة صحيحة

🔑يفترض هذا الدرس أنّك تتقن:

النعت في الإنجليزيّة وموقعه قبل الاسم أو بعد ⁦to be⁩
الفرق بين النعت القصير والنعت الطويل (عدد المقاطع)
تصريف ⁦to be⁩ في المضارع : ⁦am · is · are⁩

Presentation

لاحظ الحوار أوّلا. البنية المدروسة تتكرّر فيه أربع مرّات : ابحث عنها قبل أن تقرأ القاعدة.

Steve and Jennifer are looking at a photograph

Steve: Who are these two boys? Jennifer: They are my brothers. Steve: What are their names? Jennifer: This is Paul and this is Peter. Steve: Incredible! Paul is as tall and slim as Peter. Jennifer: Yes, they are twins. Steve: Is Paul as intelligent as Peter? Jennifer: No, Peter is not as intelligent as Paul, but he is as handsome.

What does the dialogue tell you before you read any rule?

ماذا يعلّمك الحوار قبل أن تقرأ القاعدة ؟

The adjective never changes: “tall”, “slim”, “intelligent”, “handsome” — no ending is added, nothing becomes “taller” or “more intelligent”.
The two as are not optional: one comes before the adjective, the other after it.
To say the opposite, Jennifer only adds not: “Peter is not as intelligent as Paul.”
To ask, Steve does not add a word — he moves the verb: “Is Paul as intelligent as Peter?”

⟹ Everything you need is already in the dialogue. The rule below only puts it into words.

To say that two things are equal or similar, use the pattern: … as + adjective + as … To say that they are not equal, put not in front of the first as: … not as + adjective + as … ⭐ The adjective keeps its base form — short, long or irregular, it does not change. This is what makes the structure easy: there is nothing to spell.

The three forms, with the same adjective

Form	Pattern	Example
Affirmative	subject + to be + as + adjective + as + compared	He is as smart as his brother.
Interrogative	to be + subject + as + adjective + as + compared?	Is he as smart as his brother?
Negative	subject + to be + not as + adjective + as + compared	He is not as smart as his brother.

Only the position of to be and of not changes. The two as and the adjective stay exactly where they are.

And it works with every kind of adjective

short — as tall as · as big as · as easy aslong — as expensive as · as beautiful as · as dangerous asirregular — as good as · as bad as · as far as

Going down: the comparative of inferiority

الآن الاتّجاه المعاكس : كيف نقول إنّ شيئا أقلّ من غيره ؟

Turn the sentence around

China is more populated than Japan. Now start the sentence with Japan, and keep the same adjective. What do you get?

The answer, and the rule behind it

الجواب، والقاعدة التي وراءه.

Japan is less populated than China. You did not change the adjective, and you did not change the meaning — you only changed who comes first. That is the whole point of the comparative of inferiority: it says the same fact from the other side.

… less + adjective + than … — the comparative of inferiority. … the least + adjective + of / in … — the superlative of inferiority. ⭐ Here again the adjective never changes: “less tall”, “less expensive”, “less good”. No ending, no exception to learn.

With the three kinds of adjectives

less tall than · less big than · less easy thanless expensive than · less horrible than · less dangerous thanless good than · less bad than · less far thanthe least tall · the least expensive · the least good

Example of the superlative: if we compare February with the other months of the year — February is the least long month of the year.

Do not mix the two. “Not as … as” denies an equality; “less … than” states a lower degree. The fact is often the same, but the tone is not: — “Chréa is not as high as Djurdjura.” — you were comparing them, and the equality fails. — “Chréa is less high than Djurdjura.” — you are ranking them, plainly. ⚠️ And never write not as … than. The pattern “as … as” takes as twice, never “than”. This is the single most frequent mistake in this lesson.

تنبيه : لا تخلط بين ⁦not as … as · less … than⁩. الأولى تنفي التساوي، والثانية تُنزّل صراحةً. والمعنى قريب لكنّ النبرة تختلف.

Practice

تمارين. أنجزها على كرّاسك أوّلا، ثمّ افتح التصحيح.

Exercise 1 — Complete with as … as, not as … as, or less … than

a. Tipaza is … famous … Timgad. (both are on the UNESCO list — equality) b. A camel is … fast … a horse. (the camel is slower — denied equality) c. The Sahara is … crowded … the coast. (state the lower degree) d. … your school … big … mine? (a question) e. Amine is … hard-working … his sister; they both study every evening.

Answers to Exercise 1

	Answer	Why
a	Tipaza is as famous as Timgad.	equality ⟹ as … as
b	A camel is not as fast as a horse.	a denied equality ⟹ not as … as
c	The Sahara is less crowded than the coast.	a stated lower degree ⟹ less … than
d	Is your school as big as mine?	question ⟹ to be moves to the front
e	Amine is as hard-working as his sister.	the second part of the sentence proves the equality

Exercise 2 — Say it the other way round, keeping the same adjective

a. Algeria is bigger than Morocco. ⟹ Morocco … b. The Hoggar is more beautiful than the Atlas, some say. ⟹ The Atlas … c. January is colder than March. ⟹ March …

Answers to Exercise 2

Morocco is less big than Algeria.
The Atlas is less beautiful than the Hoggar, some say.
March is less cold than January.

Notice what happened to bigger and colder: they went back to big and cold. The comparative of superiority changes a short adjective (big → bigger); the comparative of inferiority never changes the adjective. That contrast is the fastest way to remember which is which.

At the BEM, this structure appears in the Mastery of language section, in two shapes you have just practised — “complete with the right comparative”, and “rewrite the sentence starting with…”. Keep three things ready: as … as takes as twice, never than ; not as … as and less … than both express a lower degree ; and the adjective never changes in either pattern. ⛔ The mistake examiners see every year: writing “as … than”, or adding “-er” after “less”.

English compares in three directions, and two of them always leave the adjective alone. as + adjective + as puts two things on the same level; not as … as takes that level away; less + adjective + than places one below the other, and the least + adjective puts it at the bottom of the group. Learn the patterns, not the words: the adjective you drop into them is the only thing that changes.

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