Salvete,
I’m stuck on the first page of the seventh chapter in Lingua Latina (which isn’t a good sign) when it says, “Via Latina non tam longa est quam via Appia”, where does quam apply to? There are no accusative nouns to apply it to, so would it apply to tam? Why is it so?
Not understanding this also doesn’t let me understand the rest that follows, “Quam longa est via Flaminia? Neque ea tam longa est quam via Appia etc.” so it’s important for me to understand this,
Gratias vobis ago
Non tam …quam. Not as.. as.
Quam is used to indicate a comparison. You will often see it coordinated with tam. Take it as adverbial rather than as an adjective.
Just to add to what seneca has said – the adverb quam is also used alone with a slightly different meaning, as in your sentence ‘Quam longa est via Flaminia?’ Without a correlating word like tam, quam means ‘how’: ‘How long is the via Flaminia?’
Don’t worry – you’ll get used to differentiating these meanings the more Latin you read. 