(Not) as ... as
You should study the rules for comparative adjectives before you look at this lesson.
Julie is shorter than Maria.
Julie isn't as tall as Maria.
Maria is taller than Julie.
Maria isn't as short as Julie.
These four sentences mean the same thing. We use not as + adjective + as to mean less ... than .
We can use it with other expressions to say there is no difference, a small difference or a big difference.
| She's | - | as old as Tom. | = same |
|---|---|---|---|
| She's | not quite | as old as Tom. | = a little less |
| She's | not | as old as Tom. | = less |
| She's | not nearly | as old as Tom. | = a lot less |
You can also use this to compare nouns, but be careful with 'a' and 'as' together.
She's a better student than I am.
I'm not as good a student as she is.
It might seem strange, but we put a after the adjective when we use as!
(note: informally, it's common to say "She's as tall as me", but formally you need the subject pronoun "she's as tall as I")
(Not) as...as exercises