Comparison With kaip

1. Like something. Put kaip before the thing you compare with:

• Ji dainuoja kaip paukštis. (She sings like a bird.)
• Jis bėga kaip vėjas. (He runs like the wind.)

2. The same case on both sides. In these short noun comparisons, the compared word has the same role and case as the word it matches. Kaip ir tu, aš mėgstu kavą (Like you, I love coffee) has nominative tu because it matches the subject aš. Myliu tave kaip brolį (I love you like a brother) has accusative brolį because it matches the object tave. The little word ir after kaip adds just like or too.

3. As ... as. Use toks pat + adjective + kaip. The word toks agrees with the person or thing, and pat never changes: toks pat, tokia pat, tokie pat, tokios pat.

• Jis toks pat aukštas kaip tėvas. (He is as tall as his father.)
• Sesuo tokia pat protinga kaip brolis. (The sister is as clever as her brother.)

With an adverb, use taip pat + adverb + kaip: Jis dirba taip pat greitai kaip tu (He works as fast as you). For not as ... as, put ne before toks or taip and drop pat: Mano brolis ne toks kantrus kaip tu (My brother is not as patient as you). A short comparison such as toks pat aukštas kaip tėvas does not need a comma. A full subordinate clause follows the clause punctuation rules.

4. Everyday similes. Lithuanian has many fixed pictures with kaip: baltas kaip sniegas (as white as snow), alkanas kaip vilkas (as hungry as a wolf), sveikas kaip ridikas (as fit as a fiddle, literally as healthy as a radish).

5. Alike versus different. Kaip is for sameness. To say that one thing is more or less than another, use a comparative with negu, nei or už: Jis aukštesnis už tėvą (He is taller than his father). To say something only seems like something else, use lyg or tarsi.