Breakdown of Os cavalos não são tão lentos como os gatos.
ser
to be
não
not / no
o gato
the cat
lento
slow
o cavalo
the horse
tão
as / so
como
as (in comparisons)
Questions & Answers about Os cavalos não são tão lentos como os gatos.
How does the "as ... as" comparison work in this sentence?
You use the pattern tão + adjective + como. In this sentence, tão lentos como means "as slow as". You will use this exact structure whenever you are comparing two things to say they have the same amount of a quality.
Why is it lentos with an "s" instead of just lento?
In Portuguese, adjectives have to match the noun they are describing. Because os cavalos (the horses) is a masculine plural noun, the adjective describing them must also be masculine and plural, which gives us lentos.
Why does the sentence use são instead of estão for "are"?
Why do we need os before gatos? Can we just say "como gatos"?
When talking about things in general, English often drops the word "the", but Portuguese almost always keeps it. You need the definite article os (the) before plural nouns like gatos, even when making a general comparison at the end of a sentence.
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