as... as... ; as much/many as

as + adjective / adverb + as + noun/pronoun/clause/etc

as much/many (+ noun) + as + noun/pronoun/clause/etc

1 use

We use as... as... to say that two people or things are equal in some way. She's as tall as her brother. Is it as good as you expected? She speaks French as well as the rest of us.

2 negative structures

as... This structure is more

After not, we can use so... as... instead of as common than less than in informal English. He's not as/so successful as his sister.

3 as...as + adjective/ adverb

Note the structure as...as+ adjective/adverb. Please get here as soon as possible. I'll spend as much as necessary. You're as beautiful as ever.

4 pronouns after as

We can use object pronouns {me, him etc) after as, especially in an informal style.

She doesn't sing as well as me. In a formal style, we prefer subject + verb after as.

She doesn't sing as well as / do. Note that a subject form without a verb (e.g. as well as he) is unusual in this structure in modern English.

5 as much/many ...as

We can use as much/many... as... to talk about quantity.

7 haven't got as much money as I thought.

We need as many people as possible. As much/many can be used as pronouns, without following nouns.

I ate as much as I could.

She didn 't catch as many as she'd hoped. And as much ... can be used as an adverb.

You ought to rest as much as possible.

6 half as ...as etc

Note the structure half as ...as...; twice as... as...; three times as... as... etc.

You're not half as clever as you think you are.

I'm not going out with a man who's twice as old as me.

It took three times as long as I had expected,

(or ... three times longer than I had expected - see 138.7)

7 modification

Expressions with as... as... can be modified by (not) nearly, almost, just, nothing like (GB), every bit, exactly, not quite.

It's not nearly as cold as yesterday.

He's just as strong as ever.

You're nothing like as bad- tempered as you used to be.

She's every bit as beautiful as her sister.

I'm not quite as tired as I was last week.

8 infinitives

Where as... as is used with two infinitives, to is often dropped from the second.

It's as easy to do it right as (to) do it wrong.

9 tenses

In as... as-clauses (and other kinds ofas-clauses), a present tense is often used to refer to the future, and a past tense is often used with a conditional meaning.

We'll get there as soon as you do/will.

If you married me, I'dgiveyou as much freedom as you wanted.

10 ellipsis

The second part of the as... as or so ...as structure can be left out when the meaning is clear from what comes before.

The train takes 40 minutes. It'll take you twice as long by car.

I used to think he was clever. Now I'm not so sure. In cases like this, not so is much more common than not as.

11 as replacing subject or object

As takes the place of the subject or object in a clause, rather like a relative

pronoun.

We've got food for as many people as want it. (not ... as they want it.) I gave him as much as he could eat. (not ... as he could eat it.)

12 traditional expressions

We use the structure as ...as... in a lot of traditional comparative expressions.

as cold as ice as black as night

as hard as nails as good as new

The first as is sometimes dropped in these expressions, especially in American English. She's hard as nails.