Writing Tip 154: “Equally” vs. “Equally As”

Kermit doesn't like extra words in sentences either.
Kermit doesn’t like extra words in sentences either.

Words are so much fun sometimes that we often add them in nonsensically, letting them land where they may. Sometimes we stick extra words into sentences where they really have no point. That’s exactly the case when it comes to “equally as.”

Hint: There’s no point to the word “as” next to the word “equally” in most instances. Please clean it up if it spills onto your keyboard.

For example:

  • The twins were equally tall.
  • The pigs in space were equally smart.
  • The muppets were equally hilarious. (Strike that sentence; it’s not true. Sorry, Fozzy.)

Do you see how “as” is never needed in these cases? Yet writers add this little word in all of the time. Why is that? Where did it start? When will it stop?

Admittedly, in instances where you are writing “equally as (adjective) as ____,” making a comparison in the latter half of the sentence, the “as” works–though in this case, there would be two “as”es in the sentence, never just one. I repeat, never just one. Here’s a little grammatical instance of how change can start with you.