equative construction

{{distinguish|equative sentence|equative case}}

An equative construction is a grammatical construction using an adjective or an adverb in the comparative of equality (also called "equative degree"). An equative construction equates a comparee with a standard in terms of a certain quality or action. In English, such a construction takes the form “as X as S”, where S is the standard.{{cite book|chapter=Equative constructions in world-wide perspective|author=Haspelmath, Martin|year=2017|title=Similative and Equative Constructions: A cross-linguistic perspective|editor=Yvonne Treis and Martine Vanhove|doi=10.1075/tsl.117.02has}}

In modern French, the equative construction takes the form “aussi X que S”.{{cite chapter|chapter=Equative and similative constructions in the languages of Europe|author1=Haspelmath, Martin|author2=Buchholz, Oda|doi=10.1515/9783110802610.277|year=2011|title=Adverbial Constructions in the Languages of Europe|page=293|quote=In older French, equative constructions had the standard marker comme (aussi grande comme moi), but this was later replaced by que.}}

Welsh has an equative degree of adjectives, usually indicated by the suffix -ed; for example, "hyned" (â ...)", meaning "as old (as ...)".{{cite web |url=https://www.mit.edu/~dfm/canol/chap22.html |title=Reading Middle Welsh |last=Morgan |first=Gareth |year=1996 |access-date=2022-08-11 |quote=Welsh has an equative degree of the adjective, meaning 'as big', 'as new', and so on. It often has an air of exclamation about it: 'how big!', 'how new!' The equative suffix is -ed.}}