〜ほど〜ない

A は B ほど〜ない means "A is not as… as B": 今年は去年ほど暑くない (this year isn't as hot as last year). The second part is always in the NEGATIVE — that's the telltale sign of this pattern.

A common mix-up: affirmative comparisons use より (去年は今年より暑かったです — last year was hotter than this year), while ほど is used only in negative sentences. Saying 今年は去年ほど暑いです is grammatically wrong.

Before ほど you can also have a verb in the dictionary form or た-form: 思ったほど難しくない (not as hard as I thought), 言うほど簡単じゃない (not as easy as people say). The chunk 思ったほど〜ない is extremely common — well worth memorizing as a single unit.

Examples

• 今年(ことし)の夏(なつ)は去年(きょねん)ほど暑(あつ)くないです。

  This summer isn't as hot as last year.

• 私(わたし)は兄(あに)ほど背(せ)が高(たか)くないです。

  I'm not as tall as my older brother.

• 漢字(かんじ)は思(おも)ったほど難(むずか)しくなかったです。

  Kanji weren't as hard as I thought.

Related patterns

• なかなか〜ない