Subordinating Conjunctions of Comparison

Use comparison clauses to show how people or things differ or resemble each other.

B1 review sentence: She is taller than her brother.
Expand the idea with a clause: She is taller than her brother is.

Subordinating conjunctions such as than, as… as, the … the help connect full clauses, not just adjectives.

Conjunction	Meaning	Example
than	Inequality	This project is more complex than we expected.
as… as	Equality	She is as organised as her manager is.
the … the	Cause-effect comparison	The more we collaborate, the more we learn.
as if / as though	Unreal comparison	He speaks as if he knew everything about the topic.
like (informal)	Similarity	It looks like it was designed by professionals.

Use a full clause when needed: than I do, as we had planned.
With as if/as though, choose the tense carefully:
- Unreal present: She looks as if she were tired.
- Unreal past: He behaved as though he had seen a ghost.

Avoid double comparatives

Don’t say more better or more taller. Use a single comparative form, as in B1: She is taller than her brother.

Subordinating conjunctions of comparison link entire clauses to express equality, difference, or resemblance.
Choose the right structure (than, as… as, the … the, as if/as though) and keep verb tenses consistent.