Learn Italian: Oggi la pioggia è così forte come ieri. - Today the rain is as heavy as yesterday.

Oggi la pioggia è così forte come ieri.

Today the rain is as heavy as yesterday.

Breakdown of Oggi la pioggia è così forte come ieri.

Questions & Answers about Oggi la pioggia è così forte come ieri.

How does così... come work here, and could I use tanto... quanto instead?

Così... come translates to "as... as" when comparing things. Since you are comparing an adjective (forte), you can absolutely use tanto... quanto instead. Oggi la pioggia è tanto forte quanto ieri means the exact same thing!

Can I leave out the word così?

Yes! When comparing adjectives, the first word (così or tanto) is optional. It is very common in everyday Italian to drop it and just say ...è forte come ieri.

Why is forte translated as "heavy" rather than "strong"?

In Italian, intense weather like rain (la pioggia) or wind (il vento) is described as forte (strong). While we say "heavy rain" in English, Italians say "strong rain."

Does forte need to change to feminine to match la pioggia?

It is already matching! Forte is an adjective that ends in -e in the singular. These adjectives do not change between masculine and feminine, so forte works perfectly for both il vento (masculine) and la pioggia (feminine).