Learn Italian: Questo divano è tanto scomodo quanto quello. - This sofa is as uncomfortable as that one.

Questo divano è tanto scomodo quanto quello.

This sofa is as uncomfortable as that one.

Breakdown of Questo divano è tanto scomodo quanto quello.

so much, a lot / as (in comparisons)

Questions & Answers about Questo divano è tanto scomodo quanto quello.

How does the word scomodo get its negative meaning?

The word scomodo (uncomfortable) is made by attaching the negative prefix s- to the adjective comodo (comfortable). In Italian, the prefix s- often reverses a word's meaning, just like 'un-' or 'dis-' does in English.

Can I use come instead of tanto ... quanto to say 'as ... as'?

Yes! To say two things are equal, you can use tanto ... quanto, just quanto, or come. So you could say Questo divano è scomodo come quello and it would mean the exact same thing.

Why doesn't the ending of tanto or quanto change to match the noun?

When tanto and quanto are used to compare adjectives (like scomodo), they act as adverbs, meaning they never change their endings. The adjective scomodo, however, still has to agree with the masculine singular noun divano.

Why does the sentence end with quello instead of quel?

In this sentence, quello is a pronoun standing in for the noun phrase quel divano (that sofa) so you do not have to repeat the word for sofa. We use quello because divano is a masculine singular noun.