Comparisons may involve reference to a "standard (of comparison)": compare "English is easier" (no standard mentioned) to "English is easier than Basque" (there, Basque is referred to as the standard of comparison). English puts the word "than" in front of the standard. In "Fish is as expensive as meat", "meat" is the standard, indicated by the second "as" (compare "Fish is as expensive" or "Fish is so expensive", where no standard is mentioned). Comparisons of the "as...as" type are called "equative". With superlatives, as in "Donostia is the prettiest city in the Basque Country", on the other hand, "the Basque Country" is not really a standard but a "domain" or range within which the superlative applies. The structures used in such comparisons in Basque are as follows (the second table shows examples); the word orders shown are the most common and considered basic, but certain variations are also possible.