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Compare with "wie" and "als"
When do you use "wie" or "als"?
You can compare with the words like and than .
Examples:
Das gelbe Auto ist so schnell wie das grüne Auto! - The yellow car is as fast as the green car!
Das früne Auto ist schneller als das rote Auto! - The green car is faster than the red car!
Comparison with "wie": equality
Das grüne Auto kostet so viel wie das rote Auto: the price is the same.
Das Auto von Max ist genauso schön wie das Auto von Anna: both cars are equally beautiful.
So wie shows the equality.
Comparison with "as": inequality
Das grüne Auto ist billiger als das rote Auto: the price is not the same.
Mias Auto ist schöner als das von Max: both cars are not equally beautiful.
The adjective changes: it is in the comparative and gets the ending -er
billig - billiger / cheap - cheaper
schön - schöner / beautiful - more beautiful
Als zeigt also die Ungleichheit.
'wie' and 'als' in spoken language
Sometimes in the spoken language, you will hear:
"Das grüne Auto ist schneller 'wie' das rote Auto".
or even:
"Das grüne Auto ist schneller 'als wie' das rote Auto".
This is not a standard language!
In Bavarian , the dialect spoken in parts of Bavaria, 'wie' is always used when making comparisons.
Er is so oid wie du. (He is as old as you)
Sie is äida wie du. (She is older than you)
Here you can add 'als' to the 'wie kann man wie mit als ergänzen:
Des Haus is gressa ois wia des ander.
(Das Haus ist größer als das andere)
And in Goethes 'Faust' you can find the famous quote:
Da steh ich nun, ich armer Tor und bin so klug als wie zuvor.
However, besides this quote, this is a mistake in writte German.
eher wie ... als wie ...
There is a combination in which "als" and "wie" come together in one sentence:
Das sieht eher aus wie ein Bus als wie ein Auto!
Das sieht aus wie ein Bus. Das sieht nur ein bisschen aus wie ein Auto.
Das schmeckt eher wie Wasser als wie Tee!
Das schmeckt (fast) wie Wasser. Das schmeckt nicht wie Tee.
It looks more like a bus than a car!
It looks like a bus. That just looks a bit like a car.
It tastes more like water than tea!
It tastes (almost) like water. It doesn't taste like tea.
There are two sentences here that describe that something is the same (wie), In addition, one would like to show the difference between the sentences (als).
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