Italian Così Come, Tanto Quanto: ‘As … As’ (A2)

🔍 In short. The italian così come tanto quanto family is the everyday way to say as … as. Marco è alto come Luigi (Marco is as tall as Luigi). La torta è tanto buona quanto la crostata (the cake is as good as the tart). Both work for adjectives. When you compare amounts of things (apples, hours, kilos) you need tanto … quanto with agreement: ho tanti amici quanti ne ha lei. When you compare people, after come or quanto the pronoun is me, te, lui, lei, never io, tu. This A2 italian così come tanto quanto guide covers both patterns side by side, the agreement question, the dropped-first-word habit, the pronoun trap, and a Massa marble-and-pastries dialogue with Gloria and Egidio.

Two patterns side by side

Walk into a pasticceria in Massa on a Saturday morning and you will hear it within a minute: questa sfogliatella è buona come quella di domenica, il bignè di oggi è tanto fresco quanto quello di ieri. Italian has two ready-made patterns to say as … as: così … come and tanto … quanto. Both compare two things that match. Both belong in your active A2 toolkit. The choice between them depends on what you are comparing, and a few small rules keep you from sounding like a learner.

• Marco è alto come Luigi.
  Marco is as tall as Luigi.
• La torta è tanto buona quanto la crostata.
  The cake is as good as the tart.
• Il caffè è così forte come ieri.
  The coffee is as strong as yesterday.
• Gloria lavora tanto quanto Egidio.
  Gloria works as much as Egidio.

You can almost always swap così … come for tanto … quanto when the comparison is about a quality (tall, good, strong). The split shows up the moment you start comparing amounts (apples, kilos, friends): then only tanto … quanto works, and the two words have to agree in number and gender. We will get to that. First, the two basic moves.

Così … come: the adjective pattern

The pattern così + adjective + come + second term is the everyday way to say as … as when you are comparing a quality. Così and come never change their ending. They are the same in masculine, feminine, singular, plural. Stick the adjective in the middle and you are done.

• Gloria è così alta come Egidio.
  Gloria is as tall as Egidio.
• La sfogliatella è così buona come la pastiera.
  The sfogliatella is as good as the pastiera.
• Massa è così tranquilla come Pietrasanta.
  Massa is as quiet as Pietrasanta.
• Questo scalpello è così resistente come quello vecchio.
  This chisel is as sturdy as the old one.
• Il blocco di marmo è così pesante come due frigoriferi.
  The marble block is as heavy as two fridges.

The structure feels close to English as … as: same number of pieces, same order. Italians use così … come a lot in writing and in careful speech. In quick conversation they often shorten it, or they switch to tanto quanto, the other half of the pair we are about to meet. The full tanto quanto form is still the safe form for an A2 learner, and you will be understood everywhere.

Tanto … quanto: the wider pattern

The pattern tanto + adjective + quanto + second term is the second way to say as … as. With an adjective in the middle, it does the same job as così … come. The two are basically interchangeable when the comparison is about a quality.

• Gloria è tanto alta quanto Egidio.
  Gloria is as tall as Egidio.
• La sfogliatella è tanto buona quanto la pastiera.
  The sfogliatella is as good as the pastiera.
• Massa è tanto tranquilla quanto Pietrasanta.
  Massa is as quiet as Pietrasanta.
• Il leone è tanto feroce quanto la tigre.
  The lion is as fierce as the tiger.
• La matita è tanto lunga quanto la penna.
  The pencil is as long as the pen.

The pattern goes further than così … come. Tanto … quanto can also compare verbs (how much someone does something) and amounts (how many things you have). That is why it is the wider, more flexible pattern, and the one you will hear most often once people move past the school-book example.

• Gloria lavora tanto quanto Egidio.
  Gloria works as much as Egidio.
• Mangia tanto quanto può.
  He eats as much as he can.
• Studio tanto quanto te.
  I study as much as you do.
• Mio fratello dorme tanto quanto un gatto.
  My brother sleeps as much as a cat.

When you compare amounts: tanto and quanto must agree

So far tanto and quanto have sat next to an adjective and stayed fixed. The moment they sit next to a noun, both words start agreeing in number and gender with the noun that follows. This is the one rule that catches every English speaker. Tanto with a feminine plural noun becomes tante; quanto with the same kind of noun becomes quante. Same for the other forms.

• Ho tanti amici quanti ne hai tu.
  I have as many friends as you do.
• Ha mangiato tante mele quante pere.
  He’s eaten as many apples as pears.
• Abbiamo venduto tanti cannoli quanti bignè.
  We sold as many cannoli as bignè.
• Gloria ha lavorato tante ore quante Egidio.
  Gloria worked as many hours as Egidio.
• In cava ci sono tanti blocchi bianchi quanti grigi.
  At the quarry there are as many white blocks as grey ones.

Notice that così … come does not work here. You cannot say ho così amici come te. When the comparison is about how many, the only safe pattern is tanto … quanto with full agreement. The pair has to march in step with the noun: feminine plural with feminine plural, masculine singular with masculine singular.

Dropping the first word: alto come Luigi

Italians often skip the first word of the pair in conversation. Marco è così alto come Luigi becomes Marco è alto come Luigi. Gloria è tanto stanca quanto Egidio becomes Gloria è stanca quanto Egidio. The meaning stays exactly the same. The short form is shorter and very natural in speech.

• Egidio è veloce come Gloria.
  Egidio is as fast as Gloria.
• Il marmo bianco è caro quanto l’oro per chi lo scolpisce.
  White marble is as dear as gold for the people who carve it.
• La nebbia in Apuane è fitta come a Bologna.
  The fog in the Apuane is as thick as in Bologna.
• Questo bignè è buono quanto quello di domenica scorsa.
  This bignè is as good as the one from last Sunday.

The second word, however, you cannot drop. Come and quanto are the bridge to the second term of the comparison, and they always have to be there. Marco è alto Luigi is not a sentence in Italian. Marco è alto come Luigi is the minimum acceptable form. Keep this asymmetry in mind: the first word is optional, the second is required.

After come or quanto: me, not io

This is the trap that survives the longest. When the second term of the comparison is a personal pronoun (I, you, he, she …), Italian uses the object form, not the subject form. The right pronoun after come or quanto is me, te, lui, lei, noi, voi, loro, not io, tu, egli. English does the opposite in formal grammar (as tall as I) but everyday English uses the object form too (as tall as me), so Italian feels familiar to the spoken-English ear.

• Gloria è alta quanto me.
  Gloria is as tall as me.
• Egidio cucina bene come te.
  Egidio cooks as well as you do.
• Lavoriamo tanto quanto loro.
  We work as hard as they do.
• Mio fratello è simpatico come lei.
  My brother is as nice as she is.
• Nessuno mangia paste tanto quanto noi.
  Nobody eats pastries as much as we do.

Forms like alto quanto io or simpatico come tu sound wrong to Italian ears. They flag the speaker as a beginner instantly. Train yourself to reach for me, te, lui, lei right after come or quanto, and the most common A2 slip with comparisons disappears.

Same person, two qualities: tanto bella quanto distratta

A useful variant of tanto … quanto compares two qualities inside the same person or thing. È tanto bella quanto distratta means she is as beautiful as she is absent-minded. The pattern compresses a long sentence into a short one and is very common in writing.

• Gloria è tanto severa quanto generosa.
  Gloria is as strict as she is generous.
• Il lavoro in cava è tanto faticoso quanto soddisfacente.
  Work at the quarry is as tiring as it is rewarding.
• La pasticceria del centro è tanto piccola quanto famosa.
  The pastry shop downtown is as small as it is famous.
• Egidio è tanto silenzioso quanto attento.
  Egidio is as quiet as he is attentive.

The same idea works for places, objects, situations. The first adjective sets the expected quality; the second one balances it out, often with a slight twist or surprise. Tanto piccola quanto famosa tells you the shop is small but, against the small size, it is also widely known. Use this pattern when you want a quick, expressive A2 sentence that does not sound like a textbook drill.

Altrettanto: the same to you

One word from the same family deserves a line on its own. Altrettanto means the same amount or, used alone as a reply, the same to you. After someone wishes you something, you can answer with altrettanto and that single word covers the whole return wish.

• Buon appetito! / Altrettanto!
  Enjoy your meal! / The same to you!
• Buona fortuna! / Altrettanto!
  Good luck! / Thanks, same to you!
• Buon fine settimana! / Grazie, altrettanto.
  Have a good weekend! / Thanks, same to you.
• Auguri di buon Natale! / Altrettanto a te.
  Merry Christmas! / Same to you.

Altrettanto can also work as an amount word meaning the same number or the same amount, agreeing with the noun it sits with. Aveva sette fucili e altrettante bombe means he had seven rifles and the same number of bombs. For A2 the reply use is what you will hear every day. Learn it, use it, and you slip one step closer to sounding native.

Fixed phrases: quanto prima, quanto possibile

A handful of fixed phrases use quanto by itself to mean as … as possible or as … as can be. They are short, useful, and very common in everyday Italian. Keep them in your active vocabulary as ready-made chunks.

• Ti prego di farmi avere le chiavi quanto prima.
  Please get me the keys as soon as possible.
• Vorrei finire il lavoro il più possibile entro venerdì.
  I’d like to finish the job as much as possible by Friday.
• È una giornata stanca quanto mai.
  It’s an unbelievably tiring day.
• Cammina quanto basta per arrivare alla cava.
  Walk just enough to get to the quarry.

These set phrases do not need a paired tanto. They work alone, outside the regular tanto quanto frame. Quanto prima and quanto possibile live in emails and polite requests. Quanto mai adds a little punch in speech. Quanto basta appears on recipe pages and on the lips of any Italian grandmother explaining how much salt to add. They are siblings of the main tanto quanto family.

Cheat sheet

Quick reference for the whole italian così come tanto quanto system. Keep this table open the next time you build a comparison sentence.

Dialogue at a pasticceria in Massa

Gloria works at a small pasticceria in the centre of Massa, a few kilometres from the marble quarries of the Alpi Apuane. Egidio is a sculptor who comes down from the cave to buy breakfast for his crew. The dialogue shows the italian così come tanto quanto patterns in action.

What to notice in the dialogue

• Sembri tanto stanco quanto contento: same person, two qualities. The italian così come tanto quanto pattern compresses two ideas in one line.
• Un blocco grande quanto un furgone: dropped tanto, very natural in speech.
• Così affamati come me: full pattern with the object pronoun me, not io.
• Tanto quanto a me: equal verb amount, with the pronoun me again after quanto.
• Tanti bignè quante sfogliatelle: amounts of nouns, full agreement. Tanti for masculine plural bignè, quante for feminine plural sfogliatelle.
• Buono come quello che faceva nostra nonna: short come form, dropped così.
• Grande quanto la cava di Carrara: dropped tanto, no agreement needed because grande is an adjective, not a noun.
• Altrettanto: the closing one-word reply to a good wish, the most economical use of the family.

Mini-challenge

Italian così come tanto quanto comes alive once you stop translating one word at a time and start hearing the pair as a fixed frame. Read out loud, copy native sentences, and notice when speakers drop the first word in everyday speech. The italian così come tanto quanto patterns reward small daily practice rather than long study sessions: one good sentence a day, every day, and the structure becomes automatic.

Test your understanding

Take the quiz below to test what you’ve learned about italian così come tanto quanto.

Frequently asked questions

These questions about italian così come tanto quanto come from real conversations among Italian learners online. For an institutional reference on comparatives, see the Treccani entry on comparative adjectives.

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