by R. S. Karunaratne

'As' as a preposition and conjunction

When used as a preposition as gives the meaning of equivalence or comparison.

Mother was thinking of her son, as much as herself.

Marina is as tall as her brother.

Jaya speaks English as well as a native speaker.

Dharman is not as friendly as Dayan.

'As' is used to talk about the role or function of a person.

I cannot remember as a child whether I had any ambition of becoming a journalist.

As the principal, Peiris maintained discipline in the school.

'As' when used as a conjunction, means 'when' or 'while'.

The Local Government Elections, as everyone predicted, were won by the ruling party.

As the plate fell off the table, it smashed to pieces.

More buses and trains were kept ready as the soldiers were returning from the warfront.

As I was getting late, I decided to hire a cab.

'As...... as' construction is used with an adjective or adverb.

I asked my sister to come home as soon as possible.

Maya looked as beautiful as ever.

We use 'as much as' or 'as many as' to talk about quantity.

Eat as much as you can!

We need as many, workers as possible.

'As much as' and 'as many as' can be used for emphasis.

There are as many as 1,000 students in some tuition classes.

Some boys weigh as much as 60 Kg.

'As...... as' is used in some traditional comparative expressions.

The water was as cold as ice.

The meat was as hard as nails.

The demon was as black as night!We can leave out words after 'as' if the meaning is clear.

The profits are not good as last year.

This is equal to: The profits are not good as they were last year.

After 'seem', 'as' is not used. Instead we use 'like'.

Henry seems like a faithful friend.

Inversion sometimes happens after 'as'.

Lalitha was very religious, as were most of her classmates.

'As a matter of fact' is used to say that the hearer's expectations are not fulfilled.

A: I hope you passed the GCE O/L exam?

B: No, as a matter of fact I didn't.

'As a result' shows that what is said follows logically from what was said before.

Sunil was down with fever. As a result he could not attend the party. 'As far as' is used to talk about distance.

They walked as far as the edge of the forest.

'As long as' is used to express a future idea.

I'll remember you as long as I live.

'As such' is used to say that something is not exactly what has been suggested.

I'm not a journalist as such , but I contribute a few articles to newspapers.

We use 'as usual' but not 'as usually'.

The train is late, as usual.

The boss is in a bad mood, as usual.

Starters :

Simple way to use adjectives

Adjectives are usually used before a noun or after a ‘be verb.’

The Smiths live in a large house.

She always carries a folding umbrella.

Father wears a black belt.

Driver, stop the car at the white gate.

Put your letter into the red box.

Your umbrella is big.

Mr. Perera’s car is red.

Our houses are small.

Your shoes are brown.

The snake is black.

The size comes before the colour.

There is a big white rabbit in the bush.

Tom was wearing a small blue cap.

Bandu is driving a big yellow lorry.

The crocodile showed its large white teeth.

The elephant has a massive grey body.

Note: Do not use a comma between the two adjectives.

Use ‘and’ if two adjectives from the colour group occur in a sentence.

You can use the colours in any order.

Your shoes are black and brown.

Your shoes are brown and black.

Shyama is wearing a black and green sweater.

Father is driving a red and white car.

Activity

Some of the sentences below need ‘and.’ Rewrite them. Check your answers with the key.

1. The birds are eating big red apples.

2. Sama is carrying a black brown handbag.

3. Your ring has tiny red stones.

4. Mother is putting up blue green curtains.

5. There is a small black bird in the cage.

6. Where did you put my big blue file?

7. I like the orange grey T-shirt.

8. Buy me a black brown belt.

9. Do you like these big red apples?

10. We have moved into a grey white building.

[Key]

1. Correct.

2. Sama is carrying a black and brown handbag.

3. Correct.

4. Mother is putting up blue and green curtains.

5. Correct.

6. Correct.

7. I like the orange and grey T-shirt.

8. Buy me a black and brown belt.

9. Correct.

10. We have moved into a grey and white building.