Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[juliete]

What's the difference in meaning of 'Fred is not as old as Sam,' and 'Fred is not so old as Sam'?

I have no idea. But I think something is different....

[redset]

The second phrase isn't really correct English, although you might hear some people using it informally. I think the main difference in meaning comes from the phrase so old, which adds emphasis:

Sam is so old - Sam is very very old
Fred is not so old - Fred isn't really young, but we wouldn't call him old yet!
Fred is not so old compared to Sam - Fred isn't exactly young (a kid might call him 'old'), but Sam is a lot older! Fred isn't really 'old' if you look at how old Sam is.

So the phrase puts emphasis on the fact that Sam is quite a bit older - but honestly it depends on the speaker, they might not intend to emphasise this (some people simply say 'not so old as' in place of 'not as old as').

To be safe, use these comparisons:


Fred is not as old as Sam - implies Sam is old, and that Fred might also be old but not as old as Sam.
Today isn't as cold as yesterday - implies yesterday was cold, and that today is probably also cold but not as much.

Fred is not the same age as Sam - doesn't imply anything, Sam could be a child and Fred could be 100 years old! All it says is that their ages are different.
Today's temperature isn't the same as yesterday's - all we know is that the temperature today is different, it could be higher or lower.

[juliete]

Hello redset,

'The second phrase isn't really correct English,' is a surprise　because all the textbooks of mine say they are interchangeable.

'The second phrase has two meanings' is also a surptise because all the textbooks of mine say it has only one meaning and is the same as the first one.

But I understand.
I'll avoid using the second phrase from now on.

Thanks!

[redset]

I'll check my books when I get home, but I had a quick look around some other forums and some other people have mentioned that certain textbooks say that the not so... as construction is fine, and is possibly an older construction. If that's the case, then they would be interchangeable; I'll see what I can find out later. It's rare to hear it though (in Britain at least).

I'll get back to you on this!

[rice07]

In negative structures,'Fred is not as old as Sam' and 'Fred is not so old as Sam' are interchangeable. But native speakers of English would use as ... as to say that people or things are equal in some way. So to speak, taking your sentence for instance, 'Fred is as old as Sam' would be said in an affirmative structure but not 'Fred is so old as Sam'.

[peterteacher]

To me 'Fred is not as old as Sam' implies being old is good in this situation and Fred is lacking something by being younger than Sam.

'Fred is not so old as Sam' implies being old is not good in this situation and Fred is in a better position by being younger.

That was my first impression, and sometimes that's all you can go on when interpreting the nuances of prose. I will say, though, that 'Fred is not so old as Sam' is perfectly good English but it's definitely an older and less common style.
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[juliete]

redset and peterteacher are so different and I'm a little bit confused.

Can anyone give me some opinion?