Comparing nouns
How do we compare nouns in English?
In our last blog, we learned about nouns, adjectives and comparatives.
Today we are going to learn another way to compare nouns using adjectives.
That’s as good as it gets!
Comparing nouns
When growing up, did you and your siblings measure your height to see who was taller?
At one point maybe you said “I am taller than my sister”.
What if you were not taller than her and she was not taller than you?
How can we express that you are the same height?
To express that two nouns are the same, we can use as…as!
If you are 1.5 meters tall and your sister is also 1.5 meters tall, you could say:
“I am as tall as my sister.”
The structure is: As + Adjective + as
Have a look at some more examples:
I am 25 years old, Mark is 25 years old = I am as old as Mark.
Dinner was nice. Desert was nice. = The desert was as nice as the dinner.
Porches are fast. Ferraris are fast. = Porches are as fast as Ferraris.
As...as
We use as + adjective + as to compare nouns that are the same
Not as...as
What if we want to say that the two things are not the same?
It is quite easy. In fact, all we have to do is add not after the auxiliary verb.
If Simon is 1.5 meters tall and Mark is 1.6 meters tall, we can say:
“Simon is not as tall as Mark”
If we add another person: Brian – 2 Meters tall, we can then say:
“Simon and Mark are not as tall as Brian.”
More examples of this are:
“Ireland isn’t as hot as Spain.”
“He is not as handsome as Leonardo di Caprio”
“I don’t have as much money as Mark Zuckerberg”
Not as...as
We use not + as + adjective + as to compare nouns that are not the same
Test Yourself
Compare the nouns using as…as or not as…as
Example: Michael has 100euro. Dwight has 100euro
Answer: Michael has as much money as Dwight.
- Facebook is very popular. Twitter has the same popularity.
- Central school is very good. Other schools are ok.
- Lord of the rings is amazing. The Hobbit is good.
- My jumper is blue. Jim’s jumper is the same colour.
Test Yourself
Choose the correct option to complete the sentences.
Vocabulary
As good as it gets: something is so good and cannot get better
Siblings: brothers and sisters
To measure: to check the size of something with a ruler or measuring tape
Did you enjoy the post on comparing nouns? Please check out part 2 on comparing using as much as and as many as.
Thank you for reading our post. You’ll find more English grammar tips elsewhere on our site and if you’d like information on our English courses in Dublin, please do not hesitate to contact us.