When conducting an employee performance review or analyzing quarterly results, you often need to compare outcomes to initial expectations. To express that something is as [adjective] as expected, use so [adjective/adverb] ..., wie ....
Subordinate Clauses with "wie"
When wie (as) introduces a full comparison clause with its own subject and verb, it functions as a subordinating conjunction. Just like with dass or weil, this means:
- You place a comma before wie.
- The conjugated verb in the wie-clause moves to the very end.
| The revenue in the second quarter was as high as the boss promised. | Der Umsatz im zweiten Quartal war so hoch, wie der Chef versprochen hat. |
| The new employees are as productive as we hoped. | Die neuen Mitarbeiter sind so produktiv, wie wir gehofft haben. |
Modifying the Comparison
You can make the comparison more precise by adding genau (exactly) before so, or you can state that expectations were missed by adding nicht (not).
| This quarter was exactly as important as we had planned. | Dieses Quartal war genau so wichtig, wie wir es geplant haben. |
| The first quarter was not as successful as we had expected. | Das erste Quartal war nicht so erfolgreich, wie wir erwartet haben. |
Evaluating Performance
Let's apply this structure to employee evaluations (die Beurteilung) and key metrics. In the workplace, you might evaluate a staff member's competence or the standards used to measure them.
| Your evaluation is as positive as you expected. | Ihre Beurteilung ist so positiv, wie Sie erwartet haben. |
| The competence of the staff is as important as the boss always says. | Die Kompetenz der Mitarbeiter ist so wichtig, wie der Chef immer sagt. |
| This benchmark is as strict as we thought at the beginning. | Dieser Maßstab ist so streng, wie wir am Anfang dachten. |
You can also use this structure to discuss soft skills and work ethic, such as a team member's commitment (das Engagement) or ambition.
| His commitment was as great as we hoped. | Sein Engagement war so groß, wie wir gehofft haben. |
| Are you really as ambitious as you said in the job interview? | Bist du wirklich so ehrgeizig, wie du im Vorstellungsgespräch gesagt hast? |
The rule remains exactly the same no matter the context: the adjective follows so in the main clause, and the conjugated verb lands at the end of the wie-clause.
