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La ville a autant d'usines que la région.

La ville a autant d'usines que la région.
The city has as many factories as the region.
From Lesson 122:Comparing quantities of nouns (plus de... que)·French

Questions & Answers about La ville a autant d'usines que la région.

Why do we use autant de here instead of aussi?
We use autant de (as much / as many) when comparing nouns, like usines (factories) in this sentence. If we were comparing adjectives, like saying the city is 'as big as' the region, we would use aussi (aussi grande que).
Why is it autant d'usines and not autant des usines?
After expressions of quantity like autant de, plus de, or moins de, the word de does not combine with the plural article. You always use just de (or d' before a vowel) directly followed by the noun, even if that noun is plural.
Does que mean 'as' in this sentence?
Yes! In French comparisons, the second half of the comparison is always introduced by que. While English uses 'as... as', the French pattern for nouns is autant de... que....
Why does autant de change to autant d' in this sentence?
Because the noun usines starts with a vowel. The word de always drops its 'e' and becomes d' before a vowel or a silent 'h' to make the pronunciation flow better.

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