Another aspect of “as”

January 30th, 2009 at 07:00am Barry Wood

Let’s get back to problems with “as.” When making comparisons with phrases involving “as,” sometimes the second “as” gets dropped. Here are two examples of this:

“Research said only half as many children were vaccinated than was claimed in agency reports.”

“The vice president has been at odds with President Smith as often, if not more often, than Smith’s nemesis, the speaker of the House.”

The first type is simpler. The proper phrase is “as many as,” but in the above example it has become “as many than.” Replace “than” with “as.”

When too many words intrude in the middle of the phrase, it’s easy to get distracted. Always check a sentence with an “as” in it to see if another is needed. They often work in pairs.

The second example is another case in point, but with a different issue. It makes two comparisons, one saying things are equal, the other saying they’re not. Once again the second “as,” which would complete “as often as,” is missing. There are several solutions.

You could put “as” where it belongs and move a comma, but the sentence gets unwieldy: “The vice president has been at odds with President Smith as often as, if not more often than, Smith’s nemesis, the speaker of the House.”

A second option: Move the second part to the end: “The vice president has been at odds with President Smith as often as Smith’s nemesis, the speaker of the House, if not more often.”

Even cleaner: “The vice president has been at odds with President Smith at least as often as has Smith’s nemesis, the speaker of the House.” The phrase “at least as often as” covers both scenarios.

Entry Filed under: word choices, strict usage