Is it “als” or “wie” (or both) that is translated, “as”?

Question

I've learned the constructions:

besser als, better than

and

so gut wie, as good as.

But when I translated the expression "also known as," to be "auch bekannt wie", a native speaker corrected my translation as "auch bekannt als", What is going on?

Answer 1

The word "als" has different meanings, depending on context:

• in comparisons, translated as "than."

A ist besser als B - A is better than B.

• temporal, translated as "while."

Als ich zum Laden ging... - While I was walking to the shop...

• as a proposition used with the word "bekannt", translated as "as"

Stefani ist bekannt als Lady Gaga - Stefani is known as Lady Gaga.

Answer 2

Additionally to Cass' answer:

The correct translation to "also known as" would "auch bekannt als", but you can compare a person to someone or something else, using "wie" in that expression:

Er war auch bekannt wie ein bunter Hund.

He was known all over the place.