When do you use “so wie” vs “als” in German?

German splits comparisons in two. For things that are equal, you wrap the plain adjective in so … wie: so schnell wie (“as fast as”). For things that are unequal, you add -er and follow with als: schneller als (“faster than”). So so schnell wie ein Auto means neck-and-neck, while schneller als ein Auto means one pulls ahead. Match the word to the outcome — tie or overtake.

The clip drills it as a ladder — bike, car, train, plane, rocket — each rung repeating “Ist X so schnell wie Y? Nein, Y ist schneller als X.” One trap: many native speakers say schneller wie in casual speech, but standard German always pairs the comparative with als, never wie. Keep wie for equality, als for the winner.