When you compare two things in German, the little word that joins them is not free to choose. German splits comparison cleanly down the middle: als marks difference, and wie marks sameness. If one thing outranks the other, you use als ("than"); if the two are equal, you use so ... wie ("as ... as"). English uses "than" for the first and "as" for the second, so the categories line up — but the trap is that both German words can feel translatable as "than" or "as," and learners (plus a huge number of native speakers in casual speech) blur them together. This page gives you the rule that keeps them apart for good.
The core split: difference vs sameness
Run one test before every comparison: am I saying the two things are unequal, or equal?
- Unequal (one is bigger, faster, older, more...) → als. This always follows a comparative form (größer, schneller, mehr, besser).
- Equal (just as big, exactly as fast) → so ... wie. The adjective stays in its base form and is bracketed by so before and wie after.
Mein Bruder ist größer als ich.
My brother is taller than I am. (inequality — comparative + als)
Mein Bruder ist so groß wie ich.
My brother is as tall as I am. (equality — so + base form + wie)
These two sentences differ by a single mechanism. The first has the comparative größer and is closed by als; the second keeps the plain groß, frames it with so ... wie, and means the two are the same height. Get into the habit of reading the adjective form first: a comparative ending in -er practically demands als, while a bare adjective wrapped in so demands wie.
als — the "than" of inequality
als appears after every comparative, no matter what is being compared:
Heute ist es kälter als gestern.
Today it's colder than yesterday.
Sie verdient mehr als ihr Chef.
She earns more than her boss.
Das war einfacher, als ich gedacht hatte.
That was easier than I had thought.
Note the third example: when a whole clause follows als, German puts a comma before it and the verb goes to the end (als ich gedacht hatte), because it is a subordinate clause. With a simple noun or pronoun (als ich, als gestern, als ihr Chef) there is no comma and nothing moves.
A useful fixed phrase to recognise is mehr als genug ("more than enough") — mehr is a comparative, so als is locked in.
Wir haben mehr als genug Brot für alle.
We have more than enough bread for everyone.
so ... wie — the "as ... as" of equality
For equality, German brackets the adjective: so + adjective + wie. The so signals "to the same degree," and wie introduces the standard you are matching:
Der Kaffee ist nicht so stark wie zu Hause.
The coffee isn't as strong as at home.
Lauf so schnell wie möglich!
Run as fast as possible!
Sie ist genauso müde wie ich.
She's just as tired as I am.
You can intensify so to genauso or ebenso ("just as") for emphasis, as in the last example — but wie still closes the bracket. The word that pairs with the base form is wie, never als.
wie also means "like / as"
Outside comparisons of degree, wie does a second job: it means "like" or "as" when you liken one thing to another. This is the same wie, used to mark resemblance rather than measured equality:
Er benimmt sich wie ein kleines Kind.
He's behaving like a little child.
Eine Stadt wie Berlin hat für jeden etwas.
A city like Berlin has something for everyone.
Here English uses "like," and German uses wie — never als. (English speakers rarely err here, because "like" never tempts you toward "than.") The unifying idea is that wie always points at sameness or likeness; als always points at a gap.
als ob — "as if" with the Konjunktiv II
There is one more als worth knowing at this level: als ob (or just als) meaning "as if." It introduces an unreal comparison — a situation that only seems to be the case — and it triggers the Konjunktiv II (the German subjunctive of unreality):
Er tut so, als ob er nichts wüsste.
He acts as if he knew nothing.
Sie sah aus, als hätte sie tagelang nicht geschlafen.
She looked as if she hadn't slept for days.
Why als and not wie here? Because "as if" sets up a contrast with reality — what seems true differs from what is true — and German routes that difference through als, the difference word. Notice that als ob sends the verb to the end (als ob er nichts wüsste), while dropping the ob pulls the verb up right behind als (als hätte sie...). Both are correct; the second is slightly more elevated. (The full treatment of als ob lives on the Konjunktiv II "unreality" page.)
Quick reference
| Meaning | Word | Adjective form | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| inequality ("than") | als | comparative (größer, mehr) | größer als ich |
| equality ("as ... as") | so ... wie | base form (groß) | so groß wie ich |
| likeness ("like / as") | wie | — | wie ein Kind |
| unreal comparison ("as if") | als (ob) + Konjunktiv II | — | als ob er schliefe |
The honest truth about "größer wie"
Across large parts of the German-speaking world — especially in everyday speech in the south and west — you will hear größer wie for "bigger than." Many native speakers say it without a second thought. So why does this page insist on als?
Because in standard written German the split is absolute: als for inequality, wie for equality, with no overlap. Größer wie is firmly (informal/nonstandard) — it is corrected in school, marked wrong on exams, and avoided in writing and formal speech. Learners should hear it for comprehension but never produce it in any neutral or formal context. The reverse error, so groß als, is also nonstandard and much rarer. The clean rule (comparative + als, so + wie) is the one that will never be wrong.
Common Mistakes
❌ Mein Bruder ist größer wie ich.
Nonstandard — wie after a comparative; standard German requires als.
✅ Mein Bruder ist größer als ich.
My brother is taller than I am.
This is the single most common comparison error, made by learners through transfer and by many native speakers through dialect. After any comparative, the standard word is als.
❌ Sie ist so groß als ich.
Incorrect — als with the equality frame so; must be wie.
✅ Sie ist so groß wie ich.
She's as tall as I am.
The frame so ... wie is fixed. If you have so before the adjective, you need wie after it.
❌ Er benimmt sich als ein Kind.
Incorrect — 'like a child' is likeness, which takes wie.
✅ Er benimmt sich wie ein Kind.
He behaves like a child.
For "like / as" (resemblance), German uses wie. Here als would wrongly suggest a comparison of degree or the "as if" sense.
❌ Das war einfacher wie ich dachte.
Nonstandard — comparative einfacher needs als, not wie.
✅ Das war einfacher, als ich dachte.
That was easier than I thought.
When a clause follows, remember the comma and the verb-final order: als ich dachte.
❌ Er tut so, als ob er nichts weiß.
Incorrect — als ob takes the Konjunktiv II, not the indicative weiß.
✅ Er tut so, als ob er nichts wüsste.
He acts as if he knew nothing.
Als ob describes an unreal appearance, so the verb must be in the Konjunktiv II (wüsste, not weiß).
Key Takeaways
- als = inequality. It follows every comparative (größer, mehr, besser) and translates "than."
- so ... wie = equality. The adjective stays in its base form inside the so ... wie bracket and translates "as ... as."
- wie alone also means "like / as" for resemblance (wie ein Kind).
- als ob / als = "as if," an unreal comparison that takes the Konjunktiv II.
- Größer wie is widespread in speech but nonstandard. The reliable rule is comparative + als, equality + wie.
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Start learning German→Related Topics
- The ComparativeA2 — How German builds the comparative by adding -er to the adjective itself — never 'more' — with obligatory umlaut on a predictable set and als for 'than'.
- Comparisons of Equality and GradationB1 — How to say 'as ... as', 'more and more', and 'the ... the' in German with so ... wie, immer + comparative, and je ... desto.
- Wishes, Suggestions, and als obB2 — Using Konjunktiv II for unreal wishes, tentative suggestions, and 'as if' comparisons with als ob, als wenn, and verb-first als.
- als vs wenn vs wannB1 — How to choose among the three German words for 'when': wann for questions, als for a single past event, wenn for repeated past, present, future, and conditions.
- Temporal Conjunctions: als, wenn, während, bevor, nachdem, bis, seitB1 — The time conjunctions all send the verb to the end, but each marks a precise relationship — and the als/wenn split for the past is one of the top intermediate errors.