Sako enhavas tiom da kartono kiom da plasto.

to contain

Breakdown of Sako enhavas tiom da kartono kiom da plasto.

• da: of
• sako: the bag
• tiom: as much

Questions & Answers about Sako enhavas tiom da kartono kiom da plasto.

How does tiom da ... kiom da ... work in this sentence?

It is the normal Esperanto pattern for comparing quantities.

• tiom = that much / so much / as much
• kiom = how much, or in this kind of pairing, as much as

So tiom da kartono kiom da plasto means as much cardboard as plastic.

A useful way to remember it is:

• tiom ... kiom ... = equal amount
• English often translates this as as much ... as ...

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Why is da used after both tiom and kiom?

Because da is used after words of quantity when they are followed by the thing being measured.

So:

• tiom da kartono = that much cardboard
• kiom da plasto = as much plastic

This is the same da you see in expressions like:

• multe da akvo = a lot of water
• iom da tempo = some time
• kilogramo da rizo = a kilogram of rice

In this sentence, both halves of the comparison talk about an amount, so both need da.

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Why are kartono and plasto singular, not plural?

Because they are being treated as substances or materials, not as separate countable items.