Blog about English
Using as...as, not as...as, enough, too and similar structures.
English uses a variety of structures to express equal, greater or lesser degrees of quality.
These structures compare qualities without always using comparative or superlative adjectives.
This car is as fast as my old one.
Эта машина такая же быстрая, как моя старая.
"As fast as" expresses equal degree of speed.
The new apartment is bigger than our old one.
Новая квартира больше нашей старой.
"Bigger than" expresses a higher degree of size.
This route is less convenient than the highway.
Этот маршрут менее удобен, чем шоссе.
"Less convenient than" expresses a lower degree of convenience.
The blue shirt is as comfortable as the black one.
Синяя рубашка такая же удобная, как черная.
"As comfortable as" expresses equality.
Today is colder than yesterday.
Сегодня холоднее, чем вчера.
"Colder than" expresses a higher degree of coldness.
This test is less difficult than the last one.
Этот тест менее сложный, чем предыдущий.
"Less difficult than" expresses a lower degree of difficulty.
Her new job is better than her old one.
Ее новая работа лучше старой.
"Better than" expresses a higher degree of quality.
The two rooms are equally large.
Две комнаты одинаково большие.
"Equally large" explicitly expresses equal degree.
The structure as...as expresses equality between two people, things or situations.
Examples include as tall as his brother and as interesting as the book.
My brother is as tall as my father.
Мой брат такой же высокий, как мой отец.
"As tall as" compares the height of two people equally.
This movie is as interesting as the book.
Этот фильм такой же интересный, как книга.
"As interesting as" expresses equal interest.
Her new car is as comfortable as her old one.
Ее новая машина такая же удобная, как старая.
"As comfortable as" compares two cars at the same degree.
This hotel is as expensive as the one downtown.
Этот отель такой же дорогой, как тот, что в центре.
"As expensive as" expresses equal price level.
The second apartment is as large as the first.
Вторая квартира такая же большая, как первая.
"As large as" compares the size of two apartments.
This coffee is as strong as the coffee I had yesterday.
Этот кофе такой же крепкий, как кофе, который я пил вчера.
"As strong as" expresses equal intensity.
He is as friendly as his sister.
Он такой же дружелюбный, как его сестра.
"As friendly as" compares two people equally.
This route is as safe as the other one.
Этот маршрут такой же безопасный, как другой.
"As safe as" expresses equal safety.
Not as...as expresses inequality by showing that one thing has a lower degree of a quality.
It is often interchangeable with less...than in meaning.
My car is not as fast as yours.
Моя машина не такая быстрая, как твоя.
"Not as fast as" means that my car has a lower degree of speed.
This apartment is not as large as the other one.
Эта квартира не такая большая, как другая.
"Not as large as" expresses a lower degree of size.
The movie was not as interesting as I expected.
Фильм был не таким интересным, как я ожидал.
"Not as interesting as" shows that the actual degree was lower than expected.
This restaurant is not as expensive as the one downtown.
Этот ресторан не такой дорогой, как тот, что в центре.
"Not as expensive as" can mean that the first restaurant is cheaper.
Today is not as cold as yesterday.
Сегодня не так холодно, как вчера.
"Not as cold as" expresses a lower degree of coldness.
The new phone is not as heavy as my old one.
Новый телефон не такой тяжелый, как мой старый.
"Not as heavy as" expresses a lower degree of weight.
She is not as experienced as her manager.
Она не такая опытная, как ее менеджер.
"Not as experienced as" expresses less experience.
The second route is not as convenient as the first.
Второй маршрут не такой удобный, как первый.
"Not as convenient as" expresses lower convenience.
Too expresses excess, while enough expresses sufficiency.
Compare too difficult to understand with easy enough to understand.
The coffee is too hot to drink.
Кофе слишком горячий, чтобы его пить.
"Too hot to drink" expresses excessive temperature.
The coffee is cool enough to drink now.
Теперь кофе достаточно остыл, чтобы его можно было пить.
"Cool enough to drink" expresses sufficient temperature.
This box is too heavy to carry.
Эта коробка слишком тяжелая, чтобы ее нести.
"Too heavy to carry" expresses excessive weight.
The box is light enough to carry.
Коробка достаточно легкая, чтобы ее нести.
"Light enough to carry" expresses sufficient lightness.
She is too tired to work.
Она слишком устала, чтобы работать.
"Too tired to work" expresses an excessive degree of tiredness.
She is rested enough to work.
Она достаточно отдохнула, чтобы работать.
"Rested enough to work" expresses sufficient condition for the action.
The room is too small for six people.
Комната слишком маленькая для шести человек.
"Too small" expresses insufficient size for the requirement.
The room is large enough for six people.
Комната достаточно большая для шести человек.
"Large enough" expresses sufficient size.
Less and least express lower degrees of quality.
They are commonly used with longer adjectives, such as less expensive and the least complicated.
This model is less expensive than the others.
Эта модель дешевле остальных.
"Less expensive" expresses a lower degree of expense.
The new office is less comfortable than the old one.
Новый офис менее удобный, чем старый.
"Less comfortable" expresses a lower degree of comfort.
This is the least expensive option.
Это самый недорогой вариант.
"The least expensive" expresses the lowest degree of expense.
That was the least interesting part of the presentation.
Это была наименее интересная часть презентации.
"The least interesting" identifies the lowest degree of interest.
This route is less convenient than the highway.
Этот маршрут менее удобен, чем шоссе.
"Less convenient than" expresses lower convenience.
Friday is the least convenient day for me.
Пятница — самый неудобный для меня день.
"The least convenient" identifies the lowest degree of convenience.
The updated version is less complicated.
Обновленная версия менее сложная.
"Less complicated" expresses a lower degree of complexity.
This is the least complicated solution.
Это наименее сложное решение.
"The least complicated" expresses the lowest degree of complexity.
Adverbs such as very, quite, rather, fairly and extremely modify adjective intensity.
The choice of modifier affects both meaning and style.
The room is very quiet.
Комната очень тихая.
"Very" strongly increases the degree of "quiet".
The restaurant is quite busy tonight.
Сегодня вечером в ресторане довольно людно.
"Quite" expresses a moderate or fairly high degree.
The instructions are rather confusing.
Инструкции довольно запутанные.
"Rather" increases the degree and can suggest that the quality is more noticeable than expected.
The hotel is fairly expensive.
Отель довольно дорогой.
"Fairly" indicates a moderate degree.
The weather is extremely cold today.
Сегодня погода чрезвычайно холодная.
"Extremely" indicates a very high degree.
The apartment is very spacious.
Квартира очень просторная.
"Very" intensifies the adjective "spacious".
The new model is quite expensive.
Новая модель довольно дорогая.
"Quite" modifies the degree of "expensive".
The test was fairly easy.
Тест был довольно легким.
"Fairly" indicates that the degree of ease was moderate.
These structures express degree together with a resulting consequence.
Examples include so tired that I fell asleep and such a difficult task that nobody finished it.
The movie was so funny that everyone laughed.
Фильм был настолько смешным, что все смеялись.
"So funny that" expresses degree followed by a result.
She was so tired that she went to bed early.
Она была настолько уставшей, что легла спать рано.
"So tired that" connects a high degree of tiredness with a consequence.
It was such a difficult task that nobody finished it.
Это было такое сложное задание, что никто его не закончил.
"Such a difficult task that" expresses degree with a noun phrase.
He spoke so quietly that I could barely hear him.
Он говорил настолько тихо, что я едва мог его слышать.
"So quietly that" modifies an adverb and introduces a result.
It was such a beautiful day that we went to the park.
День был настолько прекрасным, что мы пошли в парк.
"Such a beautiful day that" contains a noun phrase after "such".
The traffic was so heavy that we were late.
Движение было настолько плотным, что мы опоздали.
"So heavy that" expresses a degree that caused a result.
She made such a good impression that they offered her the job.
Она произвела такое хорошее впечатление, что ей предложили работу.
"Such a good impression that" expresses degree with a countable noun phrase.
The instructions were so confusing that we had to call for help.
Инструкции были настолько запутанными, что нам пришлось позвонить за помощью.
"So confusing that" introduces the consequence of the degree.
Enough and too commonly combine with infinitives.
These patterns express whether something is sufficient or excessive for an action.
She is old enough to drive.
Она достаточно взрослая, чтобы водить.
"Old enough to drive" expresses sufficient age for the action.
The box is light enough to carry.
Коробка достаточно легкая, чтобы ее нести.
"Light enough to carry" expresses sufficient lightness.
We arrived early enough to get a good seat.
Мы приехали достаточно рано, чтобы занять хорошее место.
"Early enough to get" expresses sufficient timing.
The water is warm enough to swim in.
Вода достаточно теплая, чтобы в ней плавать.
"Warm enough to swim in" expresses sufficient temperature.
The car is too expensive to buy right now.
Машина слишком дорогая, чтобы купить ее сейчас.
"Too expensive to buy" expresses an excessive price.
The road is too dangerous to drive on at night.
По этой дороге слишком опасно ездить ночью.
"Too dangerous to drive on" expresses excessive danger.
He was too tired to finish the work.
Он был слишком уставшим, чтобы закончить работу.
"Too tired to finish" expresses an excessive degree of tiredness.
The table is big enough to seat eight people.
Стол достаточно большой, чтобы за ним могли сесть восемь человек.
"Big enough to seat" expresses sufficient size.
English offers many ways to strengthen or soften statements about degree.
Expressions such as almost, nearly, virtually and relatively help convey precise meanings.
The new apartment is almost as large as the old one.
Новая квартира почти такая же большая, как старая.
"Almost" shows that the two degrees are very close but not exactly equal.
The two prices are nearly the same.
Две цены почти одинаковые.
"Nearly" indicates a very small difference.
The results are virtually identical.
Результаты практически идентичны.
"Virtually" means almost completely or for practical purposes.
The new model is significantly cheaper than the old one.
Новая модель значительно дешевле старой.
"Significantly" indicates a noticeable difference.
The second option is slightly better.
Второй вариант немного лучше.
"Slightly" indicates a small difference.
The new system is considerably faster.
Новая система значительно быстрее.
"Considerably" emphasizes a substantial difference.
The two apartments are almost equally expensive.
Две квартиры стоят почти одинаково.
"Almost equally" indicates near equality.
The updated plan is relatively simple.
Обновленный план относительно простой.
"Relatively" softens the adjective by comparing it implicitly with a reference point.
Formal English uses a variety of lexical expressions to indicate degree.
Examples include significantly higher, marginally lower and substantially different.
The revised system is significantly more efficient.
Пересмотренная система значительно эффективнее.
"Significantly more efficient" indicates a noticeable increase in efficiency.
The new model is marginally cheaper.
Новая модель лишь немного дешевле.
"Marginally" indicates a very small difference.
The two methods are substantially different.
Эти два метода существенно различаются.
"Substantially different" indicates a large and meaningful difference.
The final result was considerably better than the initial estimate.
Итоговый результат был значительно лучше первоначальной оценки.
"Considerably better" indicates a substantial improvement.
The difference was relatively small.
Разница была относительно небольшой.
"Relatively small" expresses degree in relation to an implicit comparison.
The revised figures are slightly higher than the original estimates.
Пересмотренные цифры немного выше первоначальных оценок.
"Slightly higher" indicates a modest increase.
The new approach is substantially more flexible.
Новый подход значительно гибче.
"Substantially more flexible" indicates a significant increase in flexibility.
The updated estimate is marginally lower than the previous one.
Обновленная оценка лишь немного ниже предыдущей.
"Marginally lower" indicates a very small decrease.
The best structure depends on the intended comparison and level of emphasis.
Accurate choice improves precision and naturalness in both speech and writing.
My car is as fast as yours.
Моя машина такая же быстрая, как твоя.
Use "as...as" when the two things have equal degree.
My car is not as fast as yours.
Моя машина не такая быстрая, как твоя.
Use "not as...as" when the first thing has a lower degree.
My car is faster than yours.
Моя машина быстрее твоей.
Use a comparative with "than" when directly expressing a higher degree.
My car is too expensive to buy.
Моя машина слишком дорогая, чтобы ее купить.
Use "too...to" when the degree is excessive for the intended action.
My car is cheap enough to buy.
Моя машина достаточно дешевая, чтобы ее купить.
Use "enough to" when the degree is sufficient for the intended action.
The new system is significantly more efficient.
Новая система значительно эффективнее.
Use a degree modifier when the size of the difference matters.
The movie was so good that we watched it twice.
Фильм был настолько хорошим, что мы посмотрели его дважды.
Use "so...that" when a degree directly produces a consequence.
It was such a difficult problem that nobody could solve it.
Это была настолько сложная проблема, что никто не смог ее решить.
Use "such...that" before a noun phrase when expressing degree and result.
Use equality and degree structures according to their grammatical patterns.
Common mistakes include omitting the second as, confusing too with very, misplacing enough and using incorrect infinitive constructions after too and enough.
My car is as fast as yours.
Моя машина такая же быстрая, как твоя.
Use both instances of "as" in the equality structure.
My car is not as fast as yours.
Моя машина не такая быстрая, как твоя.
Do not omit the second "as" after the adjective.
The coffee is too hot to drink.
Кофе слишком горячий, чтобы его пить.
"Too" expresses excess; it does not simply mean "very".
She is old enough to drive.
Она достаточно взрослая, чтобы водить.
"Enough" follows the adjective "old", not the other way around.
We have enough time to finish.
У нас достаточно времени, чтобы закончить.
"Enough" comes before the noun "time".
The box is too heavy to lift.
Коробка слишком тяжелая, чтобы ее поднять.
Use "too + adjective + to-infinitive".
This apartment is less expensive than the other one.
Эта квартира дешевле другой.
Use "less expensive", not "less expensiver".
The new system is more efficient than the old one.
Новая система эффективнее старой.
Use "more efficient", not "more efficienter".