[Grammar] Use of "not as adjective as"

[johnbaker13]

Is the following a grammatically correct sentence?

The plants were not as growing quickly in synthetic soil as in natural soil.

 

[Rover_KE]

No, it isn't.

If the structure has to be as per your title, you need to say

'The plants were not as quick-growing in synthetic soil as in natural soil'.

Welcome to the forums.

 

[Raymott]

Or "The plants were not growing as quickly in synthetic soil as in natural soil", which simply transposes 'as' and 'quickly' to make it right - but 'quickly' is an adverb.
"... not as quickly-growing ..." uses an adjective. I prefer this to "quick-growing", but there's a possible subtle difference.

 

[johnbaker13]

So, what you're saying is inserting any word between as and adverb is somewhat inappropriate?

For example:

i) The behaviors were not as condemned quickly in sports as in other settings.

ii) The behaviors were not condemned as quickly in sports as in other settings.

iii) The behaviors were not as quickly condemned in sports as in other settings.

Are ii), iii) correct and i) not?

Can you also tell me (if any of the sentences were grammatically correct) the best sentence for use in writing?

Thanks.

 

[Raymott]

So, what you're saying is inserting any word between as and adverb is somewhat inappropriate?

For example:

i) The behaviors were not as condemned quickly in sports as in other settings.

ii) The behaviors were not condemned as quickly in sports as in other settings.

iii) The behaviors were not as quickly condemned in sports as in other settings.

Are ii), iii) correct and i) not?

Can you also tell me (if any of the sentences were grammatically correct) the best sentence for use in writing?

Thanks.

Yes, ii and iii are correct, and i is not.
"Not as condemned" means they weren't condemned as much. That's not what you want to say. So it's not simply that it's not appropriate; the point is that doing so changes the word you are comparing.
I would use version ii. It sounds more natural to me.