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O rato é tão perigoso como o elefante?

O rato é tão perigoso como o elefante?
Is the mouse as dangerous as the elephant?
From Lesson 54:Equality comparisons (tão... como)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about O rato é tão perigoso como o elefante?

How does the "as... as" comparison work in this sentence?
To compare two things that are equal in some way, Portuguese uses tão followed by an adjective, and then como. Here, tão perigoso como translates exactly to "as dangerous as".
Could I use tanto instead of tão here?
No, you must use tão because it comes right before an adjective (perigoso). You only use tanto (or its forms like tanta) when talking about the quantity of a noun, to mean "as much" or "as many".
Since there are two animals in this sentence, which one does perigoso agree with?
It agrees with the first animal, o rato (the mouse), because that is the subject of the sentence. Since o rato is a masculine singular noun, we use the masculine singular adjective perigoso. If the subject were feminine, like a pantera (the panther), it would change to tão perigosa como.
Why doesn't the word order change to ask a question, like it does in English?
In Portuguese, you do not need to swap the subject and the verb to ask a basic yes/no question. You just use the normal statement word order (O rato é... instead of "Is the mouse...") and raise the pitch of your voice at the end of the sentence when speaking.

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