به اندازهٔ و مثل
As … as and Like
مثل takes a noun or a pronoun and means like: دست‌هایش مثل یخ سرد بود. (His hands were as cold as ice.)
How It Works
Dari has two small words for equal comparisons. به اندازهٔ means "as much as". It goes before the thing you compare with, and the adjective follows: فرید به اندازهٔ برادرش قد بلند دارد. (Farid is as tall as his brother.)
اندازه ends in a silent ه, so it takes the ezafe mark ـهٔ. The ezafe is the little link that joins one word to the next, like -i in kitāb-i man. You can put an ending on the noun: به اندازهٔ برادرم (as much as my brother).
مثل means "like". It takes a noun or a pronoun with the ezafe link, which is said but not written: مثل یخ (misl-i yakh, like ice), مثل من (like me), مثل پدرش (like his father). Put it before the adjective or the verb it describes: دست‌هایش مثل یخ سرد بود. Careful writing also has مانند, with the same meaning.
| Dari | Meaning |
|---|---|
| به اندازهٔ تو | as much as you |
| مثل تو | like you |
| به اندازهٔ تو نیست | not as … as you |
Make the sentence negative with نیست or a negative verb for "not as … as". The adjective stays plain, because ـتر means "more than".
Examples (5)
- فرید به اندازهٔ برادرش قد بلند دارد.
Farid is as tall as his brother.
به اندازهٔ برادرش (as much as his brother) comes before the adjective بلند.
- قابلی پلوی مادرم به اندازهٔ قابلی پلوی رستورانت خوش‌مزه است.
My mother's Kabuli palaw is as tasty as the restaurant's.
به اندازهٔ قابلی پلوی رستورانت (as much as the restaurant's palaw) is what the dish is compared with, and خوش‌مزه is the adjective.
- دست‌هایش مثل یخ سرد بود.
His hands were as cold as ice.
مثل یخ (like ice) sits right before the adjective سرد.
- زمستان امسال مثل زمستان پارسال سرد نیست.
This winter is not as cold as last winter.
نیست makes مثل mean "not as … as".
- من به اندازهٔ تو وقت ندارم.
I don't have as much time as you.
به اندازهٔ تو (as much as you) with the negative verb ندارم gives "not as much as you".
Common Mistakes
Putting ـتر on the adjective after به اندازهٔ.
او به اندازهٔ برادرش بلندتر است.او به اندازهٔ برادرش بلند است.به اندازهٔ already says that the two are equal, so the adjective stays plain. ـتر is for "taller than".
How It Connects
Learn This First
It is another way to compare things.
Related Patterns
- زیادتر و کمترMore and Less with زیادتر and کمتر
زیادتر and کمتر compare amounts, like به اندازهٔ does for "as much as".
Level 3 - مثل اینکهIt Looks Like with مثل اینکه
مثل اینکه puts a whole sentence after مثل and means "it looks like".
Level 4 - چقدرHow Much and How Long with چقدر
چقدر asks how much or how long, and به اندازهٔ compares two amounts.
Level 2
Words in This Pattern
Practice به اندازهٔ و مثل in Bubblegum
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