Comparative Adjectives: not as _____ as

The white wine is not as expensive as the red wine.

You already learned how to compare two things by using comparative adjectives:

1. Add -ER (taller, older, faster)
2. Add -ER and double the final consonant (bigger, hotter, thinner)
3. Remove -Y and add -IER (easier, friendlier, prettier)
4. Add “more” or “less” to long words (more expensive, less popular, more interesting)
5. Irregular comparatives (better, farther, worse)

There’s another structure that you can use:

not as (adjective) as

• Running is not as fast as biking.
  = Biking is faster than running.
• Canada is not as hot as Ecuador.
  = Ecuador is hotter than Canada.
• Helen is not as friendly as her husband.
  = Helen’s husband is friendlier than she is.
• Movies are not as interesting as books.
  = Books are more interesting than movies.
• Playing video games is not as good as exercising.
  = Exercising is better than playing video games.

Remember that in this structure, we don’t use -ER or “more” with the adjective.

• This shirt isn’t as prettier as that blouse.
  This shirt isn’t as pretty as that blouse.
• Last week’s test wasn’t as worse as the previous one.
  Last week’s test wasn’t as bad as the previous one.

Learn more: 100 common adjectives