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as … as; as much/many as

Use​

We use as … as to say that people or things are equal in some way.

  • She’s as tall as her brother.
  • Is it as good as you expected?
  • She speaks Spanish as well as the rest of us.
  • Take as much time as you need.

Negative structures​

After not, we can use so … as instead of as … as.

  • He’s not as/so friendly as she is. (more informal than He’s less friendly …)

as … as possible, etc​

The structures as … as possible/necessary/ever/needed are common (and others using words with similar meanings).

  • Please get here as soon as possible.
  • I’ll spend as much as necessary.
  • You’re as beautiful as ever.
  • We’ll do as much as practicable before the end of the week.

Pronouns after as​

In an informal style we can use object pronouns (me, him, etc) after as.

  • 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 I do.

A subject form without a verb (e.g. as well as he) is unusual in this structure in modern English.

as much/many … as​

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

  • I haven’t got as much money as I thought.
  • We need as many people as possible.

As much/many can be used 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.

Emphatic use: as much as 80kg​

As much/many as can be used before a number to mean ‘the large amount/quantity of’.

  • Some of these fish can weigh as much as 80kg.
  • There are sometimes as many as 40 students in the classes.

As little/few can be used to mean ‘the small amount/quantity of’.

  • You can fly to Paris for as little as 20 euros.

half as … as, etc​

Half, twice, three times, etc can be used before as … as.

  • 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 expected. (or … three times longer than I expected, (see here))

Modification: nearly as …​

Before as … as we can use (not) nearly, almost, just, nothing like, 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.

Tenses​

In as … as‐clauses (and other kinds of as‐clauses), a present tense is often used to refer to the future, and a past tense can have a meaning similar to would + infinitive (see here).

  • We’ll get there as soon as you do/will.
  • If you married me, I’d give you as much freedom as you wanted.

Leaving out the second part: twice as long …​

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. By car it’ll take you twice as long.
  • 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.

Traditional expressions: as cold as ice​

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 … as hell

The first as can be dropped in these expressions in an informal style.

  • She’s hard as nails.
  • I’m tired as hell of listening to your problems.
note

Note that as is usually pronounced /əz/ (see here).

For as long as, (see here).

For as well as, (see here).

For the word order in sentences like She’s as good a dancer as her brother, (see here).

For as replacing subject or object (e.g. as many people as want it), (see here).

For sentences like (As) cold as it was, we went out, (see here).