Learn Farsi: فیل از خرس بزرگ‌تر است، ولی میمون به اندازه‌ی خرس وحشی نیست. - The elephant is bigger than the bear, but the monkey is not as wild as the bear.

To say 'as [adjective] as' or 'not as [adjective] as', we use the phrase be andâze-ye (which literally means 'to the size of' or 'as much as'). The standard pattern is: Subject + be andâze-ye + Noun + Adjective + ast / nist. So, meymun be andâze-ye xers vahši nist literally translates to 'the monkey to the size of the bear wild is not'.

Why is there a -ye at the end of andâze?

The phrase be andâze (to the extent/size) needs to connect to the noun that follows it, xers (bear). In Farsi, we connect words like this using the Ezafe. Because andâze ends in a silent 'e' sound, the connecting Ezafe becomes a -ye instead of just an -e. This gives us be andâze-ye xers.

Why do we use az in the first half but not the second half?

We use az (from/than) when making a comparative statement where one thing has more of a quality than another, along with the -tar ending on the adjective, like az xers bozorg-tar (bigger than the bear). The second half uses an equative comparison to show things are (or are not) on the same level. For that, we drop az and use be andâze-ye instead.

Why does the adjective vahši (wild) come after xers (bear)?

In this structure, is not describing the bear; it is describing the monkey! The phrase acts as a single block meaning 'as much as the bear'. The adjective comes right after this block and immediately before the verb at the very end of the sentence.