# FR: autant … que / aussi … que



## Ankhnesmerira

in order to say: his hat is not as beautiful as yours.

should I say: et son chapeau n'est pas aussi beau que le tien
or et son chapeau n'est pas autant beau que le tien?

when do I use aussi and when do I use autant in this scenario?

thanks a lot for your help

*Moderator note: *multiple threads merged to create this one


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## Moon Palace

'autant' is for quantity
'aussi' is in front of an adjective

'il n'y a pas autant de pâtes dans mon assiette'
'son chapeau n'est pas aussi joli que le mien'


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## Grop

Hello, I would say "Son chapeau n'est pas aussi beau que le tien." (no intrusive 'et').

I think we use 'aussi' when comparing qualities and 'autant' when comparing quantities, like as many or as much.


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## Donaldos

You never use _autant_... 

Both are adverbs but _autant_ is used only with verbs and nouns.

_Il n'a pas autant de chapeaux.
Il ne les aime pas autant._


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## pocky_bot

I am pretty sure I have a handle on when/how to use autant and aussi. I use autant when I have quantities of something and aussi when I am speaking of qualities (i.e Il est aussi beau que toi). 

However,  I am having trouble with the following sentence:
John a autant du talent que Nick

I am pretty sure I would use aussi, not autant. Am I correct?


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## tilt

_John a autant *de *talent que Nick.
_Even if _talent _is uncountable, the sentence refers to a certain quantity/amount of talent, hence _autant_.

But: _John est aussi talentueux que Nick.
Talentueux _is a quality, hence _aussi_.


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## itka

Je ne sais plus s'il y a une règle ou pas, mais il me semble, à voir les exemples de tilt, qu'on construit _*autant*_ avec un nom et _*aussi*_ avec un adjectif. 
Les deux expriment une égalité.
_J'ai autant d'argent que toi. (...que toi, tu as d'argent)
J'ai autant de vacances que je veux. (...que je veux en avoir)
Les personnes âgées demandent autant de soins que les enfants.(... que les enfants demandent de soins).

Il est aussi intelligent que désordonné. (...qu'il est désordonné)
Paul est aussi rapide que Pierre. (...que Pierre est rapide)
Je suis aussi fatigué que l'autre jour (...que j'étais l'autre jour).

_(Les parties entre parenthèses ne sont là que pour expliquer la phrase).


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## jann

itka said:


> Je ne sais plus s'il y a une règle ou pas, mais il me semble, à voir les exemples de tilt, qu'on construit _*autant*_ avec un nom et _*aussi*_ avec un adjectif.



We also use _autant_ to make adverbial comparisons when there is no other adverb in the sentence.  In essence, this is comparing the "quantity" of the verb.

_John travaille autant que Marc._- John works as much as Marc does.
_Je mange autant que mon frère._ - I eat as much as my brother does.
_Elle aime chanter autant que dancer. _- She likes to sing (just) as much as she likes to dance.


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## Pierre Simon

Hullo everybody 

As I understand it, *autant... que* is used to :

(a) make a comparison of (in)equality in relation to a noun, as illustrated by the first three of Itka's sample sentences in post #3; or
(b) make a comparison of (in)equality in relation to a verb, as illustrated by Jann's sample sentences in post #4.

My understanding is that *aussi... que* is used to :

(c) make a comparison of (in)equality in relation to an adjective, as illustrated by the last three of Itka's sample sentences in post #3; or
(d) make a comparison of (in)equality in relation to an adverb, as illustrated by the following sample sentences :

(1) « _Elle marche tres rapidement, mais il marche aussi rapidement qu'elle_ »
(2) « _Le professeur parle lentement, mais il ne parle pas aussi lentement que moi_ »

My question is this : which form is most appropriate when the comparison is made with a noun and an adjective? The kind of sentence I have in mind is this :

(3) « On le disait aussi *bon ami* que *dangereux ennemi* »

Could one equally well use *autant...que* here, and which, in your view, is preferable?

Merci d'avance


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## jann

I like your summaries (a) through (d).... but I don' t understand what you're trying to say in example sentence (3).  I can imagine several possible comparisons you might be meaning to express.  Could you please write that sentence in English so that we're sure to discuss the same thing?


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## Pierre Simon

Hullo Jann 

Sample sentence (3) is what prompted my question in the first place. I'm not the author of the French original, but I guess that an English translation would be : "_He was said to be as much a good friend as a dangerous foe_". My instinct (which is completely untrustworthy!!) would be to use _autant... que_, and I wonder whether the fact that the adjective precedes the noun prompted the choice of _aussi... que_.


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## jann

Ah, I see. 

Well if it's a comparison in relation to an adjective -- "as good... as he is dangerous" -- then _aussi_ would be my choice.

A comparison in relation to the noun -- "as much friend as foe" -- doesn't seem as logical here. And I don't think _autant ami qu'ennemi_ would be grammatical. The comparative structure with relation to a noun requires _de_ (_autant de ... que_) and is fundamentally an expression of quantity, not degree.


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## Pierre Simon

Mmm, on reflection, I think you're right, Jann. So much for my instinct!! 

The adjectival comparison could perhaps be emphasised by tweaking the translation. How about : "_He was said to be just as staunch in friendship as he was dangerous in combat_"?

As for my initial choice of a comparison in relation to a noun, would the following work : « _On le disait bon ami autant que dangereux ennemi _» ?


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## sofka

Can anyone tell me if the terms "avoir aussi peur" and "avoir autant peur" are interchangeable?  And if not, what are the rules regarding their use?

One of my textbooks says that aussi is used rather than autant with expressions such as avoir envie, avoir faim, avoir besoin etc but another textbook gives the example

"Nous avons autant besoin de manger que de dormir"

which kind of suggests the first book is wrong.  Google produces results for both when typed in inverted commas.


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## Maître Capello

Both _aussi_ and _autant_ are fine in your first example, which shows that the general rule given above in this thread is not complete since _aussi_ can also precede a noun in certain cases, not only an adjective or adverb.

_Elle a eu *aussi* peur *que* moi._
_Elle a eu peur __*aussi* __*que* moi._  (The comparative _aussi_ cannot be directly followed by _que_.)
_Elle a eu peur *aussi bien que* moi._
_Elle a eu *autant* peur *que* moi.
__Elle a eu peur __*autant* __*que* moi._

However:

_Nous avons *aussi* besoin de manger *que* de dormir._ 
_Nous avons *aussi bien* besoin de manger *que* de dormir.
__Nous avons besoin de manger __*aussi bien* __*que* de dormir._
_Nous avons *autant* besoin de manger *que* de dormir.
__Nous avons besoin de manger __*autant* __*que* de dormir._

Likewise, _autant_ can sometimes also be followed by an adjective.

_Il est *autant* ronchon *qu'*irrascible._ (archaic)
_Il est ronchon *autant qu'*irrascible.
__Il est *aussi* ronchon *qu'*irrascible._
_Il est *aussi bien* ronchon *qu'*irrascible._
_Il est ronchon *aussi bien qu'*irrascible.
_


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## tilt

Maître Capello said:


> _Il est *autant* ronchon *qu'*irrascible._ (archaic)


Is this form really archaic?
It does sound much natural to me!


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## Maître Capello

tilt said:


> Is this form really archaic?
> It does sound much natural to me!


Actually, it sounds quite natural to me as well. But most grammars consider it archaic…


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## exc1ter

Bonjour à tous, 

je suis en train d'entraîner _le comparatif_. J'ai bien lu les  règles, et je comprends qu'on utilise _*autant + adverbe/nom*_  (au lieu d'_*aussi*_). Mais porquoi donc, dans l'exemple  suivant, dit-on:

Les hommes se battent *aussi* aveuglément *qu*'autrefois.
(c'est un exemple de Grammaire Progressive du Français adaptée pour Bulgarie)

Le dictionnaire me dit qu'aveuglément est adverbe. À mon avis, il y a une erreur dans les clès, non? 

[…]


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## janpol

aussi + adverbe >> correct
autant + adverbe >> incorrect


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