Comparison Clauses and Ellipsis | Afrikaans Grammar

Forming the comparative itself — langer, groter, meer interessant — is covered on comparatives. This page is about what happens after the comparative word, in the clause that names the standard you are comparing against. That clause is where Afrikaans does something economical and easy to get wrong: it deletes the repeated material. When you say Sy is langer as ek, you have not produced an ungrammatical fragment — you have produced a comparison clause whose verb has been silently dropped because it would only repeat what came before. Understanding precisely what gets deleted, and the difference between phrasal as and clausal as wat, is what separates a fluent comparison from a stilted or wrong one.

as introduces the standard — and the verb deletes

After a comparative, as ("than") introduces the thing you are comparing to. In the fullest form the standard is a whole clause: Sy is langer as wat ek is. But Afrikaans normally gaps the repeated verb, leaving just the contrasted element. The result looks like a bare pronoun after as, but it is really a clause with its predictable verb deleted.

Sy is langer as ek.

She is taller than I am.

The underlying form is Sy is langer as wat ek [is] — the second is repeats the first and so is deleted. What survives is as ek. Crucially, Afrikaans takes the subject pronoun here (ek, hy, sy), exactly as you would expect of a clause that has lost its verb, not the object form. This is one of the few places where Afrikaans is tidier than colloquial English, which wavers between "than I" and "than me."

Hy verdien meer as sy broer.

He earns more than his brother.

Ons huis is kleiner as julle s'n.

Our house is smaller than yours.

In each case a verb has quietly disappeared after the standard, and only the contrasted noun phrase remains. This deletion is the default — restoring the full clause (as wat sy broer verdien) is possible but emphatic and a little heavy.

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After as, reconstruct the deleted verb in your head: langer as ek = langer as wat ek [is]. Because the survivor is the subject of that hidden clause, it takes the subject pronoun — as ek, as hy, never as my, as hom.

as wat: when the standard is a full clause

When the standard of comparison is not just a noun phrase but a whole proposition — a thing thought, expected, said, or believed — Afrikaans uses as wat and keeps the clause. This is the structural split the page exists to highlight: as alone introduces a phrasal standard with a gapped verb, while as wat introduces a genuine, undeleted comparison clause ("than what …"). The wat is the relativiser that lets the clause hang on.

Dit was makliker as wat ek gedink het.

It was easier than I thought.

Hy werk harder as wat ek verwag het.

He works harder than I expected.

Die fliek was beter as wat die resensies gesê het.

The film was better than the reviews said.

Notice that the verb here is not deleted — ek gedink het, ek verwag het, die resensies gesê het are all complete. That is because the deleted comparison would not simply repeat the main verb (was, werk); it would repeat the whole embedded thought, and Afrikaans keeps that thought visible behind wat. The clause behaves like any subordinate clause, with its verb at the end. English collapses both patterns into a single bare than ("easier than I thought"), which is exactly why learners miss that Afrikaans is making a structural distinction here. Compare directly:

Sy is ouer as ek.

She is older than I am. (phrasal standard, verb gapped)

Sy is ouer as wat sy lyk.

She is older than she looks. (clausal standard, verb kept)

The first compares against a noun phrase and deletes the verb; the second compares against a proposition and keeps it behind wat. Choosing as where you need as wat — or padding as ek into as wat ek — is the commonest error. The deeper treatment of these clauses lives on comparative clauses with as wat and soos wat; this page focuses on what is deleted.

meer as wat: the same logic with quantities

The as wat clause is especially common after meer, minder, and other quantity comparatives, because you so often compare a quantity against an expectation. The brief headline case — meer as wat ek verwag het — is the prototype.

Daar was meer mense by die troue as wat ek verwag het.

There were more people at the wedding than I expected.

Dit kos minder as wat jy dink.

It costs less than you think.

Again the embedded verb survives because the standard is a full proposition. If, by contrast, you compare the quantity against a plain noun phrase, you drop back to bare as with deletion:

Daar was meer mense as verlede jaar.

There were more people than last year.

Here as verlede jaar is phrasal — the deleted material is as wat daar verlede jaar was — so no wat appears. The rule of thumb: a clause of comparison (something with its own subject and finite idea) takes as wat; a phrase of comparison takes bare as with the verb gapped.

soos: comparing manner and identity

Where as handles unequal comparison ("more/less than"), soos handles manner and likeness — "(just) as / like." It compares the way something is done or asserts that two things are alike, and it too gaps repeated material. The fixed equative frame is so … soos ("as … as").

Sy sing so mooi soos altyd.

She sings as beautifully as ever.

Die koffie is so sterk soos gister s'n.

The coffee is as strong as yesterday's.

Doen dit net soos ek.

Do it just like me / just as I do.

In soos ek and soos altyd the predicate is deleted (soos [wat] ek [dit doen]), exactly as with as. And just like as, soos extends to a full clause as soos wat when manner is compared against a proposition:

Maak dit soos wat die resep sê.

Make it the way the recipe says.

So the deletion mechanics are parallel across the two comparatives: as / soos + phrase (verb gapped), as wat / soos wat + full clause (verb kept). One image, two comparison types.

A word on dan: not Afrikaans for "than"

The most stubborn transfer error comes from Dutch and German speakers, and from anyone who has met those languages: using dan for "than." In Dutch, dan (or als) marks the comparative standard. In Afrikaans, "than" is always as — dan exists only as "then." Saying langer dan ek is a clear foreign-accent marker. The full as vs dan contrast is on as vs dan; here it is enough to fix that comparison never uses dan.

Hy is jonger as sy vrou.

He is younger than his wife.

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Two rules cover almost every comparison clause: (1) "than" is as, never dan; (2) if the standard is a thought, expectation or statement — anything with its own verb — use as wat / soos wat and keep that verb; if it is a plain noun phrase, use bare as / soos and let the verb gap.

Common mistakes

❌ Sy is langer as my.

Incorrect — the survivor of the gapped clause is its subject, so it takes the subject pronoun ek.

✅ Sy is langer as ek.

She is taller than I am.

❌ Hy is jonger dan sy vrou.

Incorrect — dan means 'then', never 'than'; comparison always uses as.

✅ Hy is jonger as sy vrou.

He is younger than his wife.

❌ Dit was makliker as ek gedink het.

Incorrect — a clausal standard (a thought) needs as wat, not bare as.

✅ Dit was makliker as wat ek gedink het.

It was easier than I thought.

❌ Sy is ouer as wat haar suster.

Incorrect — as wat must be followed by a full clause; with a bare noun phrase, drop wat and use as.

✅ Sy is ouer as haar suster.

She is older than her sister.

❌ Maak dit soos die resep.

Incomplete — comparing against what the recipe says is a clause, so it needs soos wat … sê.

✅ Maak dit soos wat die resep sê.

Make it the way the recipe says.

Key takeaways

After a comparative, as introduces the standard and the repeated verb is deleted: langer as ek = langer as wat ek [is].
The survivor of that gapped clause is its subject, so it takes the subject pronoun — as ek, as hy, never as my.
as wat (and soos wat) introduces a full comparison clause — a thought, expectation or statement — and keeps its verb: meer as wat ek verwag het.
soos compares manner and likeness (so … soos), with the same gapping; soos wat takes a full clause.
"Than" is always as, never dan — see as vs dan; the deeper clause syntax is on comparative clauses with as wat and soos wat.

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