Difference between wie and als

I wished this post wasn't necessary, but sadly it is. It's actually not even a problem that most language learners that learn German as a second or third language struggle with. It's the natives - or at least some of them that seem to have problems with it.

The difference between "wie" and "als".

It's one of my pet peeves and it gets very tiresome once one of your friends insists on using those simple words the wrong way.

Let's find out the right way to use them first.

In this instance, both words are used to make comparisons. Let's start with "wie".

 

"Wie" means "as"; well, actually we're using "so ... wie", which means "as... as" here. I'll give you an example so you know what exactly I'm talking about:

"This tree is as tall as a house." (English) yeah, I guess you noticed ;-)

"Dieser Baum ist so groß wie ein Haus." (German)

 (So "so ... wie" is used to show that one aspect of two things is similar. There's no need to further explain the sentence since the sentence structure of both sentences is identical here.)

This kind of comparison in which one aspect of two things (or people) always works the same way. Sure, you can vary the sentence a little, but essentially it always works like mentioned above. It doesn't matter whether it's about speed, height, or taste.

I'll give you some more examples below (including a translation) that can all be used the same way:

as fast as - so schnell wie
as dark as - so dunkel wie
as sweet as - so süß wie (sweet can be used same as in english, so it can be about taste, but it can also describe "sweet" people for example)
as greedy as - so gierig wie

Difficult? Nah, I don't think so.

Let's take a closer look at "als" now.

In this case, "als" simply means "than" and is also used in comparisons. Is it more complicated?

Well, see for yourself.

I am taller than you. (English) 

Ich bin größer als du. (German) 

(Once again the structure in English and German is similar.)

It's easy to see: "als" is used to show that two things are not equal regarding one aspect. So if you want to show that one thing is bigger, taller, smaller, slower, faster, or whatever than something else, just go ahead and use "als".

Once again:

"so ... wie" - is used to describe similarities

"als" - is used to describe differences
(this does not count for negated sentences of course)

Now you know how to do it, so I'll also show you how not to do it?

"Ich bin größer wie du."
that's how. (correct versions would be: "Ich bin so groß wie du." or "Ich bin größer als du.")

Oh god, I feel so dirty right now.

You probably noticed yourself that this language-sin I just committed is a mix of what we just learned. Mixing things can result in something good when ordering a cocktail, but in this case, it doesn't.

You'll find several people in Germany that constantly speak that way. That doesn't make it right though. I'm not even sure if it's sth. related to regional dialects or just about people that don't know any better. The only thing I know for sure is that it's something that can drive me into insanity.

Don't let those people confuse you. I recommend you never to ask those people any language-related questions. It might cause their head to explode and you surely don't want to be responsible for it (and for cleaning up the mess afterwards).

Got any questions or something to add? The comment section is free of charge, so don't hold back and drop me a few lines.