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'The same as' compares identity or equivalence; 'as...as' compares degree or quantity.
Side-by-side comparison
"The same as" compares two things to say they are equal in nature or identity: "This is the same color as that one".
This phone model is the same as mine, we can share the charger.
The new café is on the same street as the school, so it is very convenient.
Her accent is not the same as her sister's, they grew up in different cities.
"As... as" compares the degree of a quality between two things: "She is as tall as her brother". It indicates equality in a specific property, not overall identity.
He is not as tall as his father, but he is just as fast on the football pitch.
Learning a language is not as hard as people think if you practise every day.
She runs twice as fast as her classmates, she trains five days a week without fail.
Common mistake
Classic errors:
- 1."The same than" = always incorrect, the only correct form is "the SAME AS": "Her salary is the same AS mine."
- 2."She is as experienced than her colleague" = wrong. AS...AS does not take THAN: "She is AS experienced AS her colleague."
- 3."As same as" = incorrect, only "the SAME AS" or "AS...AS" separately, never mixed.
Trick to remember it
Question test: are they the SAME THING (identity, type, value)? = THE SAME AS. "Her salary is the same as mine" = the same amount. Are they the same LEVEL/DEGREE of a quality? = AS...AS. "She is AS experienced AS her colleague" = same level. Structure rule: THE SAME AS + nouns; AS + adjective + AS.
Quick rule
"The same as" = identity (they are the same): "Her plan is the same as mine." "As...as" = equal degree (they are equally...): "Her plan is as effective as mine." Never "the same than", always "the same AS."
Did you know?
Historically, in Old and Middle English, "so...as" was the standard form of equal degree comparison ("she is so tall as her sister"), and "as...as" gradually took over to become the modern standard. Today, "so...as" survives only in formal British English with negations: "not so tall as", though "not as tall as" is the American standard for the same meaning.
Practise what you learned
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
Her dress is _____ mine! We ordered the same thing without realising.
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
This bag is _____ that one. They look identical to me.
Exercise 3 · Form the word
Related word pairs
'As' introduces a role or comparison with a full clause; 'like' introduces similarity and is followed by a noun.
The comparative compares two things; the superlative designates the extreme in a group of three or more.
'A' is used before consonant sounds; 'an' is used before vowel sounds.
'A lot of' works for countable and uncountable; 'many' only for countable; 'much' only for uncountable.
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy