Similes with "Kao"
To compare two things by saying one is "like" or "as [adjective] as" another, use the word kao. Croatian is full of colorful idioms and similes using wildlife vocabulary to describe how people act or look.
| My brother is as strong as a bull. | Moj brat je jak kao bik. |
| Those workers worked like horses on Monday. | Ti radnici su u ponedjeljak radili kao konji. |
| That old woman is as cunning as a fox. | Ta stara žena je lukava kao lisica. |
To say that something is not as big or as strong as something else, simply negate the verb before the kao phrase.
| An owl is not as big as an eagle. | Sova nije velika kao orao. |
Expressions of Equality
When you want to emphasize that two things share the exact same degree of a quality (meaning they are just as [adjective] as each other), use the combination jednako ... kao.
Place jednako (equally) before the adjective or adverb, followed by kao and the thing being compared.
| To me, that horse is just as beautiful as yours. | Meni je taj konj jednako lijep kao tvoj. |
| This boy is just as brave as a lion. | Ovaj dječak je jednako hrabar kao lav. |
| To him, a fox is just as smart as an owl. | Njemu je lisica jednako pametna kao sova. |
If the second half of the comparison is already understood from context, you can drop the kao phrase and simply use jednako on its own to say that something is "equally" fast, dangerous, or beautiful.
| A rabbit is fast, but an eagle flies equally fast. | Zec je brz, ali orao leti jednako brzo. |
| A snake is dangerous, but a bear is equally dangerous. | Zmija je opasna, ali medvjed je jednako opasan. |
