Tan Tanto Tanta Tantos Tantas

By Final updated: January 17, 2022

The Spanish Tan vs. Tanto: Principal Comparisons of Equality Like a Poet

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

No?

Shall I teach you how to make comparisons in Spanish so that y'all do non have any more bug with tan and tanto?

Great!

Then sit down and relax. It is fourth dimension to get poetic!

The Spanish tan and tanto are ii little words you have probably seen a few times already.

They are used to brand equality comparisons. That is, nosotros use them when we want to say that two people, objects, animals, thoughts, actions or any other couple of things are equal in some respect.

If y'all have already studied the divergence between mi (my) and mío (mine), bueno (good) and bien (well) or malo (bad [before noun]) and mal (bad [afterwards noun]), you volition not exist surprised to find out that Spanish has some word pairs that, despite existence related, have unlike functions and behave differently depending on the context or their position in the judgement.

Tan and tanto are one such couple, and this mail service is going to teach you everything there is to know about them.

Only before going into detail, let's reply a couple of questions: What are they and when are they used?

Download: This blog post is bachelor every bit a convenient and portable PDF that yous tin take anywhere. Click hither to get a copy. (Download)

What Is the Spanish Tan and When Is It Used?

Tan is not an English tan. A lot of my students have fallen for this imitation friend the showtime time they saw information technology and their faces looked like Picassos on a bad day when they incorrectly translated a sentence like Es tan alto como tú (He is as tall as you) into *He is tanned alpine as you. (Look, what!?)

No 1 is getting tanned today, though.

Tan is a Spanish adverb, and a very important one that ways "equally" when making comparisons.

Equally an adverb, it is invariable, which ways information technology does non matter if information technology is accompanying a masculine atypical adjective or a feminine plural one. It will always remain tan:

Get 14 24-hour interval FluentU Free Trial

María es tan guapa como Juana. (María is as pretty as Juana.)

Los vasos son tan caros como los tenedores. (The glasses are as expensive as the forks.)

You volition have much more info on tan in a few paragraphs, but as you may infer from what has been said already, tan loves the visitor of adjectives, and very oft the word como (every bit, like) volition announced when making the comparing.

What Is the Castilian Tanto and When Is It Used?

On the other paw, tanto is an adjective.

This may shock you lot if yous know its pregnant is "as much/equally many," only that is the truth.

You are probably used to seeing adjectives like blanco and its siblings blanca, blancos and blancas, or grande and its sibling grandes. They qualify a noun, yous feel safe and at home. They are adjectives.

Tanto may non look like your adjacent-door, friendly describing word, but if you lot become to know it a little bit better, you will acquire that it as well has siblings and they are indeed a very necessary family of adjectives in Spanish if you want to brand comparisons:

Tienes tanto dinero como Andrea. (You take as much money as Andrea.)

Como tanta fruta como mi hermano. (I eat as much fruit as my brother.)

Tenemos tantos coches como Pedro. (Nosotros accept as many cars as Pedro.)

Quieren tantas piscinas como sus vecinos. (They desire as many pond pools every bit their neighbors.)

Yous volition go to know these variants of tanto meliorate in the following paragraphs. For now, simply bear in mind the tanto family unit loves nouns and also has a very close friendship with como.

At present that y'all know today's ii heroes, let'south get downwards to the nitty-gritty of it all and acquire everything about them.

Go fix to exist compared to a native Spanish speaker after you finish this mail!

The Spanish Tan vs. Tanto: Master Comparisons of Equality Similar a Poet

Use Tan to Compare Adjectives and Adverbs

Equally we saw in the introduction of this post, tan is the give-and-take nosotros utilise when we have comparisons that include an describing word. The same is true for adverbs, as well.

Utilize tan when you need to compare two people, objects or animals and want to say that they share a quality (adjective) or they practise something the aforementioned way (adverb).

Apart from remembering this, yous should not forget about the give-and-take como, which also appears in this type of comparing.

The easiest manner to call up all the ingredients here is with the utilize of the following formula:

tan + adjetivo/adverbio + como (equally + describing word/adverb + as)

I final thing yous have to bear in mind is the behavior of adjectives in Spanish. Call up that they ever have to agree in gender and number with the noun they refer to!

All things considered, your Spanish adjective/adverb comparisons should look like this:

El agua es tan barata como la leche. (The h2o is equally cheap every bit the milk.)

Los niños son tan altos como las niñas. (The boys are as tall every bit the girls.)

Las tortugas son tan viejas como esta casa. (The turtles are every bit old as this house.)

La liebre corre tan rápido como el conejo. (The hare runs as fast every bit the rabbit.)

María escribe tan hermosamente como Ana. (María writes as beautifully as Ana.)

If you have a situation where you want to say that two people, objects or animals are not equal in some respect, the only thing you have to do is negate the verb past adding no in front end of information technology:

El zumo no es tan caro como el agua. (The juice is not as expensive as the water.)

Los niños no son tan rápidos como las niñas. (The boys are not every bit fast as the girls.)

Esta casa no es tan grande como la mía. (This business firm is non every bit big as mine.)

El conejo no corre tan grácilmente como la liebre. (The rabbit doesn't run every bit gracefully as the hare.)

Ana no escribe tan lentamente como María. (Ana doesn't write as slowly as María.)

Use Tanto to Compare Nouns

If you want to compare nouns, y'all should employ tanto and its siblings instead of tan.

As with every Spanish adjective, the sibling you lot use volition depend on the gender and number of the substantive yous are trying to compare.

Use:

tanto for masculine, singular (uncountable) nouns

tanta for feminine, singular (uncountable) nouns

tantos for masculine, plural nouns

tantas for feminine, plural nouns

I mentioned in the introduction that this family unit of adjectives has a close friendship with the word como also, then acquit this in heed when trying to recall the formula for comparing nouns:

tanto/a/os/as + sustantivo + como (as much/many + noun + as)

The simply affair left now is to accept a look at some examples:

Bebo tanto té como tú. (I beverage every bit much tea every bit you lot.)

Tenemos tanta suerte como ellos. (We have equally much luck as them.)

Pepe lee tantos libros como Miranda. (Pepe reads every bit many books as Miranda.)

Mamá necesita tantas pistas como tú. (Mom needs as many hints as you.)

Just like when we use tan, we can negate the sentences by just calculation no in front of the verb:

Tú no bebes tanto café como él. (You don't potable every bit much coffee as him.)

Ellos no tienen tanta suerte como yo. (They don't have as much luck as me.)

Miranda no lee tantos libros como Pedro. (Miranda doesn't read every bit many books as Pedro.)

Tú no necesitas tantas pistas como Anna. (Yous don't need as many hints as Anna.)

UseTanto Como to Compare Verbs

Yes! Y'all can compare actions, too! Or rather, you can say that two people or animals practice something the same mode, or with the aforementioned intensity, or in equal amounts—simply to proper name a couple of situations.

The but thing yous will demand here is a verb (apparently) and the words tanto como, together and after the verb, e'er!

Watch out, though! Tanto here is non an describing word, and then information technology is invariable.

The formula this time is:

verbo + tanto como + verbo/sustantivo (verb + as much every bit verb/noun)

Accept a look at some examples:

María come tanto como Pedro. (María eats as much as Pedro.)

Juan no estudia tanto como César. (Juan doesn't written report as much as César.)

Yo no juego tanto como debería. (I don't play equally much as I should.)

Ella no cocina tanto como limpia. (She doesn't cook as much as she cleans.)

Special Cases for Using Tan and Tanto

Fifty-fifty though you already know almost everything nigh tan and tanto and their role in equality comparisons, at that place are a couple of special situations where they behave differently or are accompanied past words other than como.

Hither is a list of the nearly important cases:

tan + adjetivo/adverbio + que (equally/so + adjective/adverb + that)

Employ this formula when you lot want to brand a deduction or affirmation almost someone or something:

Juan es tan inteligente que se aburre en clase. (Juan is so intelligent that he gets bored in class.)

El libro es tan caro que nadie lo quiere comprar. (The volume is so expensive that no ane wants to buy information technology.)

tanto/a/os/as + sustantivo + que (as/then much/many + noun + that)

Employ this construction when you desire to say "so much/many of something that something happens as a result":

Comió tanta pizza que se puso enfermo. (He ate and then much pizza he got ill.)

Había tanta gente que tuvieron que cerrar el puente. (There were and then many people they had to close the bridge.)

tanto + noun + como + noun

Use this formula when you want to say that both A and B practice something:

Tanto Pedro como Juan leen mucho. (Both Pedro and Juan read a lot.)

Tanto el vaso como el tenedor costaron xx dólares. (Both the drinking glass and the fork cost $20.)

Tanto Gracita como Antonio son muy felices. (Both Gracita and Antonio are very happy.)

And that'due south all for today, folks!

Every bit you can see, tan and tanto are little but powerful words that can assistance you build equality comparisons in Spanish in the blink of an heart.

If you remember tan is an adverb (which makes it invariable) and tanto is an describing word (which ways information technology has three siblings that agree in gender and number with the noun they accompany) you should not have any problem when yous need to make comparisons of equality in Spanish.

You lot at present have all the info you lot need to compare adjectives, adverbs, nouns and verbs, then take a pencil and a slice of paper and start practicing what you take just learned!

Stay incomparable, my friends, and as ever, happy learning!

Download: This weblog post is bachelor as a convenient and portable PDF that you lot can have anywhere. Click here to go a re-create. (Download)