"Not as ... as" and "not so ... as"
Could somebody Can anyone please explain me the difference between "not so ... as" and "not as ... as". Do these structures sentences mean the same things or not? The general meaning is the same but with a slight difference.
Are these right?
English is not as difficult as Chinese. Correct. You are just comparing the two languages.
English is not so difficult as Chinese. Correct! You are EMPHASIZING that English is much easier than Chinese in comparison; or emphasizing that Chinese MORE difficult than English.
See the definitions for the adverb meaning
Apples are as tasty as plums but not so tasty as pears. Correct. Can you now see the difference in what this sentence is trying to say?
Can I say without using "so" the structure?
His grandma is old as his grandpa. Definitely.
American English Examples
"Not as ... as" and "not so ... as"
Could someone explain to me the difference between "not so ... as" and "not as ... as"? Do these structures mean the same thing or not?
Are these right?
English is not as difficult as Chinese. Correct. Just a simple comparison.
English is not so difficult as Chinese. Correct. An emphatic comparison.
Apples are as tasty as plums but not so tasty as pears. Correct. A simple comparison followed by an emphatic comparison. "Apples are as tasy as plums but not as tasty as pears." means the same thing but has less emphasis.
Can I say this or "the following" without using "so"?
His grandma is as old as his grandpa. You need to place "as" before "old"; otherwise this sentence doesn't make any sense.
More Examples
More Advanced Pattern: as + adjective + verbal phrase + as + noun or sentence fragment
1. Russian seems as hard to learn as Croatian. / Russian doesn't seem as hard to learn as Croatian.
2. His story is as hard to believe as her story. / His story isn't as hard to believe as her story.
3. Snowy owls are as hard to spot along that trail as they are along the Robert Frost Trail. / Snowy owls aren't as hard to spot along that trail as they are along the Robert Frost Trail.
4. That bus is as inconvenient to take to work as the other bus. / That bus is not as inconvenient to take to work as the other bus.
5. I met the student whose English is as easy to understand as a native speaker's. / I met the student whose English isn't as easy to understand as a native speaker's.
6. I want to tour castles in Germany that are as beautiful to photograph as Neuschwanstein Castle. / I want to tour castles in Germany that aren't as beautiful to photograph as Neuschwanstein Castle.
7. I don't want to buy any more Transformers that are as hard to transform as this one. / I don't want to buy any more Transformers that aren't as hard to transform as this one.
* "that aren't as hard..." in this case sounds like the person only wants Transformers toys that will be a challenge to transform.
8. I don't want to go to any more movies that are as difficult to write about as the movie we saw last night. / I don't want to go to any more movies that aren't as difficult to write about as the movie we saw last night.
* Again, "that aren't as difficult to write about" sounds like the person wants a challenging topic to write about.
