Pour comparer deux quantités égales, on utilise la construction:
as + adjectif qui indique la quantité + (nom) + as
L'adjectif qui indique la quantité doit être choisi en fonction de la nature dénombrable ou indénombrable du nom de la proposition.
Noms dénombrables
On utilise as many et as few pour les noms dénombrables. Notez que le nom peut être omis quand on le comprend du contexte (voir la dernière exemple ci-dessous).
Exemples
- They have as many children as we do.
- We have as many customers as they do.
- Tom has as few books as Jane.
- There are as few houses in his village as in mine.
- You know as many people as I do.
- I have visited the States as many times as he has.
- I have three brothers. That's as many as you have. ("brothers" est sous-entendu)
Noms indénombrables
On utilise as much et as little pour les noms indénombrables. Notez que le nom peut être omis quand on le comprend du contexte (voir la dernière exemple ci-dessous).
Exemples
- John eats as much food as Peter.
- Jim has as little patience as Sam.
- You've heard as much news as I have.
- He's had as much success as his brother has.
- They've got as little water as we have.
- I'm not hungry. I've had as much as I want. ("food" est sous-entendu)