Italian has two main patterns for saying "as ... as": one with come and one with quanto. They are not interchangeable. The choice depends on what you are comparing — two different subjects, two qualities of the same subject, a quantity, or an action — and getting it right is one of the small markers that separates a confident A2 speaker from a beginner. This page lays out every pattern with the reasoning behind it.
The two equality frames
The two equality structures are:
| Pattern | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| (così) ... come | Comparing two subjects on one quality | Marco è alto come Luigi. |
| (tanto) ... quanto | Comparing two qualities of one subject, or quantities/actions | È tanto bello quanto intelligente. |
The pieces in parentheses — così and tanto — are optional in modern Italian when used as basic intensifiers in front of an adjective or adverb. Marco è così alto come Luigi and Marco è alto come Luigi are both correct; the second is more economical and far more common in speech.
Pattern 1: (così) ... come — comparing two subjects
This is the workhorse equality structure. You name a quality, then introduce the second subject with come.
Marco è alto come Luigi.
Marco is as tall as Luigi.
Mia sorella è simpatica come la tua.
My sister is as nice as yours.
Questo libro è interessante come quello che mi hai prestato.
This book is as interesting as the one you lent me.
Parla bene come un madrelingua.
He speaks as well as a native speaker.
Cucina come sua nonna.
She cooks like her grandmother.
The structure is symmetric — the subjects on both sides of come are doing or being the same thing, to the same degree.
The optional così can be added for slight emphasis, especially in writing or when the comparison feels surprising:
È così alto come il padre.
He's as tall as his father (with mild emphasis).
La situazione era così complicata come temevamo.
The situation was as complicated as we feared.
In casual speech, così is normally dropped. Marco è alto come Luigi sounds completely natural; sticking così in for no reason can feel slightly stiff or theatrical.
After pronouns
When the second term is a pronoun, Italian uses the stressed (tonic) form — the same forms used after prepositions (me, te, lui, lei, noi, voi, loro), not the subject pronouns.
Sei alto come me.
You're as tall as me.
Studia quanto noi.
She studies as much as we do.
Non è bravo come lui.
He's not as good as him.
This matches English's as me / as us / as him much better than as I / as we / as he would — Italian agrees with the colloquial English instinct here.
Pattern 2: (tanto) ... quanto — same subject, two qualities
When you want to say a single subject is as X as it is Y — comparing two qualities of one thing — Italian uses (tanto) ... quanto.
Marco è (tanto) intelligente quanto bravo.
Marco is as smart as he is good.
Era tanto stanca quanto delusa.
She was as tired as she was disappointed.
È tanto bello quanto ricco.
He's as handsome as he is rich.
Sembra tanto difficile quanto interessante.
It looks as difficult as it is interesting.
The structure says one thing about a subject from two angles. Quanto introduces the second quality being measured against the first.
The tanto is more often present than così is in pattern 1, but it is still strictly optional:
È intelligente quanto bravo.
He's as intelligent as he is good.
Sono soddisfatto quanto sorpreso.
I'm as satisfied as I am surprised.
Pattern 3: tanto/i/e ... quanto/i/e — comparing quantities
When the comparison is about how much or how many, tanto and quanto become adjectival and agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.
Countable nouns (plural)
Ho tanti libri quanti ne hai tu.
I have as many books as you do.
Ha tante amiche quante ne ho io.
She has as many female friends as I do.
Ci sono tanti studenti quanti professori.
There are as many students as professors.
Mangia tanti dolci quanti ne mangia un bambino.
She eats as many sweets as a child does.
The agreement is full: tanti / tante for masculine/feminine plural countables, quanti / quante to match.
Uncountable nouns (singular)
Beve tanto caffè quanto te.
He drinks as much coffee as you.
Ha tanta pazienza quanta sua madre.
She has as much patience as her mother.
Spendiamo tanto denaro quanto guadagniamo.
We spend as much money as we earn.
C'è tanto rumore quanto ce n'era ieri.
There's as much noise as there was yesterday.
For mass nouns, the singular tanto/tanta + matching quanto/quanta is used.
When the second term is a pronoun
If the second term of a quantity comparison is a personal pronoun, the gender/number of quanto typically agrees with the noun being compared, but the pronoun itself is the simple stressed form te / me / lui / etc.
Ho tanti libri quanti tu.
I have as many books as you. (literary)
Ho tanti libri quanti ne hai tu.
I have as many books as you do. (more natural with ne)
Beve tanto caffè quanto me.
He drinks as much coffee as I do.
In conversational Italian, the pattern with ne is far more common than the bare pronoun version — it adds a clitic that resumes the noun being measured, parallel to how Italian uses ne in many partitive constructions.
Pattern 4: (tanto) quanto — comparing actions / verbs
When the comparison is between two actions (how much X does something vs. how much Y does), use quanto modifying the verb. Tanto is again optional.
Lavoro quanto te.
I work as much as you.
Studio tanto quanto Marco.
I study as much as Marco.
Mangia quanto un cavallo.
He eats as much as a horse.
Dormo quanto posso.
I sleep as much as I can.
Parla tanto quanto cammina.
She talks as much as she walks.
In this pattern, quanto is invariable (it modifies a verb, not a noun), so no agreement happens.
Pattern 5: Negative equality
To say "not as ... as" you simply negate the verb and keep the structure intact.
Non è alto come Luigi.
He's not as tall as Luigi.
Non parlo bene come te.
I don't speak as well as you.
Non lavoro tanto quanto vorrei.
I don't work as much as I'd like.
Non ho tanti libri quanti ne hai tu.
I don't have as many books as you.
The non sits in front of the conjugated verb, exactly where it would in any negative sentence. The equality structure to its right is unchanged.
Pattern 6: Equality with parallel verbs and tense shift
When the second term of comparison contains its own verb (with a different subject), the verb is conjugated in agreement with that subject, often with the same tense as the main clause.
Studio quanto puoi studiare tu.
I study as much as you can study.
Si è arrabbiato tanto quanto si è arrabbiato Marco.
He got as angry as Marco did.
Mi piace tanto quanto piace a te.
I like it as much as you like it.
These longer comparison clauses can sound clunky in written translations — Italian tolerates them well in speech because the rhythm of tanto ... quanto makes them feel symmetrical.
How quanto can take the congiuntivo
In more formal or hypothetical contexts, quanto can introduce a clause in the congiuntivo, especially when the second term is hypothetical or unrealized.
Lavora quanto sia necessario.
Work as much as is necessary.
È tanto importante quanto si possa immaginare.
It's as important as one can imagine.
This is a literary/formal pattern. In ordinary speech, the indicativo is fine.
Distinguishing the patterns: a flowchart
Here is the decision logic in compact form:
| Question | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Are you comparing two subjects on one quality? | (così) X come Y | Marco è alto come Luigi. |
| Are you comparing two qualities of one subject? | (tanto) X quanto Y | È tanto bello quanto ricco. |
| Are you comparing how many countable things? | tanti/e ... quanti/e | Ho tanti amici quanti tu. |
| Are you comparing how much uncountable stuff? | tanto/a ... quanto/a | Beve tanto caffè quanto te. |
| Are you comparing how much someone does an action? | (tanto) ... quanto | Lavoro quanto te. |
If you remember just one thing: come for two subjects, quanto for everything else (qualities, quantities, actions).
Equality with quasi: "almost as ... as"
To soften an equality comparison toward "almost as ... as" use quasi before the adjective or adverb.
È quasi alto come suo padre.
He's almost as tall as his father.
Parla quasi bene come un italiano.
She speaks almost as well as an Italian.
Lavora quasi quanto noi.
He works almost as much as we do.
This is a useful softener and shows up constantly in real Italian where exact equality would be too strong a claim.
Common Mistakes
1. Mixing the two patterns: "tanto ... come" or "così ... quanto"
The most frequent error. Tanto pairs with quanto. Così pairs with come. They do not cross.
❌ Marco è tanto alto come Luigi.
Incorrect — tanto pairs with quanto.
✅ Marco è alto come Luigi.
Marco is as tall as Luigi.
✅ Marco è tanto alto quanto Luigi.
Marco is as tall as Luigi. (less common but correct)
❌ È così bello quanto ricco.
Incorrect — così pairs with come, not quanto.
✅ È tanto bello quanto ricco.
He's as handsome as he is rich.
2. Forgetting agreement of tanti/e ... quanti/e with countable nouns
When tanto/quanto modify a countable plural noun, they must agree.
❌ Ho tanto libri quanto te.
Incorrect — countable plural needs tanti/quanti.
✅ Ho tanti libri quanti ne hai tu.
I have as many books as you.
3. Using subject pronouns instead of stressed pronouns
After come or quanto, use the stressed form (me, te, lui, lei, noi, voi, loro), not the subject pronoun.
❌ Sei alto come io.
Incorrect — needs stressed me.
✅ Sei alto come me.
You're as tall as me.
4. Using "che" or "di" in equality (interference from inequality)
The conjunctions di and che are for inequality comparisons (più/meno + di/che). Equality always uses come or quanto.
❌ È alto di Luigi.
Incorrect — di is for inequality (più/meno).
❌ È alto che Luigi.
Incorrect — che is for inequality between qualities.
✅ È alto come Luigi.
He's as tall as Luigi.
5. Translating "as" as "come" everywhere
English uses as in many constructions; Italian doesn't always use come. I work as a teacher is Lavoro come insegnante (correct), but I work as much as you is Lavoro quanto te, not come te (which would mean "I work like you do" — manner, not quantity).
❌ Lavoro come te (meaning: as much).
Means 'I work like you (in your style)' — wrong for quantity.
✅ Lavoro quanto te.
I work as much as you.
✅ Lavoro come te (meaning: in your manner).
I work like you / in your style. (different meaning)
6. Wrong gender on tanto/quanto with feminine nouns
The gender of tanto/quanto matches the noun, not the subject of the verb.
❌ Ha tanti pazienza quanti suo padre.
Incorrect — pazienza is feminine singular.
✅ Ha tanta pazienza quanta suo padre.
She has as much patience as her father.
Key Takeaways
- (così) ... come for comparing two subjects on one quality.
- (tanto) ... quanto for comparing two qualities of one subject, quantities, or actions.
- Tanto and quanto agree in gender and number with countable plural nouns and feminine mass nouns.
- After come and quanto, use stressed pronouns (me, te, lui, lei, noi, voi, loro).
- Don't cross the patterns — tanto ... come and così ... quanto are wrong.
- Negative equality just adds non to the main verb.
- For inequality (more/less than), see the dedicated page on comparisons-inequality.
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- Comparative: più, meno, comeA2 — Italian comparatives — superiority with più, inferiority with meno, equality with (così) come or tanto quanto, plus the di-vs-che distinction that trips up every learner.
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