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Ellos querían tantos trofeos como medallas.

Ellos querían tantos trofeos como medallas.
They wanted as many trophies as medals.
From Lesson 135:Comparisons of equality (tan... como, tanto... como)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Ellos querían tantos trofeos como medallas.

Why do we use tantos here instead of tan?
We use a form of tanto when we are comparing amounts of nouns (people, places, or things), like trofeos (trophies). You only use tan when comparing adjectives or adverbs, for example, if you wanted to say they were tan rápidos como (as fast as) someone else.
Since there are two nouns (trofeos and medallas), why is it tantos (masculine) instead of tantas (feminine)?
The word tanto must match the gender and number of the noun immediately following it. Since trofeos is masculine and plural, we use tantos. It doesn't matter that medallas is feminine, because tantos is only describing the trophies.
Why is the verb querían in the imperfect past tense rather than the preterite past tense?
The imperfect tense (querían) is used to talk about ongoing feelings, states of mind, or desires in the past. Because "wanting" the trophies was a continuous desire rather than an action that started and finished at a specific moment, the imperfect is the best fit.
Is como the only word we use for the second "as" in these comparisons?
Yes! Whether you are comparing amounts of nouns with tanto or descriptions with tan, the second half of the equality comparison is always como. Together, tantos... como creates the exact meaning of "as many... as".

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