{"id":14320,"date":"2018-04-16T10:00:51","date_gmt":"2018-04-16T14:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=14320"},"modified":"2018-04-13T12:03:21","modified_gmt":"2018-04-13T16:03:21","slug":"how-to-make-comparisons-in-chinese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/how-to-make-comparisons-in-chinese\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Make Comparisons in Chinese"},"content":{"rendered":"

An important step in making it out of the beginner phase and into an intermediate level of Chinese is being able to make comparisons. Thankfully, it’s not that hard to get the hang of. This post will show you how to make comparisons in Chinese. First, let’s learn the most important character you’ll need.<\/p>\n

The Most Important Character for Comparisons<\/h2>\n

First up, write this character down, as you’re going to need it a lot:<\/p>\n

\u6bd4 \u2013 b\u01d0<\/h3>\n

This character basically means “compare\/contrast.” The basic formula for using it to make comparisons goes something like: Subject 1 + \u6bd4 + Subject 2 + Adjective. It’s similar to making comparisons in English, only you don’t have to learn to differentiate between two methods (i.e. adj.-er than vs. more adj. than). My Chinese students always have such a hard time with that in English, and rightfully so. In Chinese, you just use\u00a0\u6bd4 to show a comparison.<\/p>\n

Positive Examples<\/h2>\n
\"How<\/a>

The awesome Shanghai skyline.<\/p><\/div>\n

To show you how this character is used and how simple the formula is, here are a few positive examples:<\/p>\n

\u4ed6\u6bd4\u6211\u9ad8
\nt\u0101 b\u01d0 w\u01d2 g\u0101o
\nHe\u2019s taller than me.<\/h3>\n

\u4e0a\u6d77\u6bd4\u5317\u4eac\u5927
\nsh\u00e0ng h\u01cei b\u01d0 b\u011bi j\u012bng d\u00e0
\nShanghai is bigger than Beijing.<\/h3>\n

\u897f\u9910\u6bd4\u4e2d\u9910\u8d35
\nx\u012b c\u0101n b\u01d0 zh\u014dng c\u0101n gu\u00ec
\nWestern food is more expensive than Chinese food.<\/h3>\n

\u4eca\u5929\u6bd4\u6628\u5929\u70ed
\nj\u012bn ti\u0101n b\u01d0 zu\u00f3 ti\u0101n r\u00e8
\nToday is hotter than yesterday.<\/h3>\n

Easy, right? See if you can put together a few sentences using \u6bd4 on your own.<\/p>\n

Negative Examples<\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>

I’m not as tall as him…<\/p><\/div>\n

To make a negative comparison, you simply add the character for “no\/not<\/strong>” (\u4e0d \u2013 b\u00f9) or the word for “no\/don’t have<\/strong>” (\u6ca1\u6709 \u2013 m\u00e9i y\u01d2u). Just look at two different ways you can flip one of the above examples and make it negative:<\/p>\n

\u6211\u4e0d\u6bd4\u4ed6\u9ad8
\nw\u01d2 b\u00f9 b\u01d0 t\u0101 g\u0101o
\nI\u2019m not as tall as him.<\/h3>\n

\u6211\u6ca1\u6709\u4ed6\u9ad8
\nw\u01d2 m\u00e9i y\u01d2u t\u0101 g\u0101o
\nI\u2019m not as tall as him.<\/h3>\n

As you can see, when you use\u00a0\u6ca1\u6709, there’s no need to use\u00a0\u6bd4. Actually, it’s more common to use\u00a0\u6ca1\u6709 when making a negative comparison. Based on that, how do you think you would say “Beijing isn’t as big as Shanghai”?<\/p>\n

\u5317\u4eac\u6ca1\u6709\u4e0a\u6d77\u5927
\nb\u011bi j\u012bng m\u00e9i y\u01d2u sh\u00e0ng h\u01cei d\u00e0
\nBeijing isn\u2019t as big as Shanghai.<\/h3>\n

See if you can try and change some of the other examples from above or make your own to practice.<\/p>\n

More Specific Comparisons<\/h2>\n
\"Chinese<\/a>

One of my personal favorites – \u714e\u997c.<\/p><\/div>\n

So far, we’ve learned how to make pretty general comparisons, but what if you want to be more specific? For example, how can you compare how many years older than someone you are? Take a look at this example:<\/p>\n

\u6211\u4e8c\u5341\u516d\u5c81
\nw\u01d2 \u00e8r sh\u00ed li\u00f9 su\u00ec
\nI\u2019m 26 years old.<\/h3>\n

\u6211\u5f1f\u5f1f\u5341\u4e00\u5c81
\nw\u01d2 d\u00ec di sh\u00ed y\u012b su\u00ec
\nMy little brother is 11 years old.<\/h3>\n

\u6211\u6bd4\u5f1f\u5f1f\u5927\u5341\u4e94\u5c81
\nw\u01d2 b\u01d0 d\u00ec di d\u00e0 sh\u00ed w\u01d4 su\u00ec
\nI\u2019m 15 years older than my little brother.<\/h3>\n

As you can see, I just add the number of years at the end of the sentence to show how much older I am. Let’s try another one:<\/p>\n

\u6c49\u5821\u4e8c\u5341\u5757
\nh\u00e0n b\u01ceo \u00e8r sh\u00ed ku\u00e0i
\nA hamburger is 20 kuai.<\/h3>\n

\u714e\u997c\u4e09\u5757
\nji\u0101n b\u01d0ng s\u0101n ku\u00e0i
\nA Chinese pancake is 3 kuai.<\/h3>\n

So, how would you say in Chinese that the burger is 17 kuai<\/em> more than a jian bing<\/em>?<\/p>\n

\u6c49\u5821\u6bd4\u714e\u997c\u8d35\u5341\u4e03\u5757
\nh\u00e0n b\u01ceo b\u01d0 ji\u0101n b\u01d0ng gu\u00ec sh\u00ed q\u012b ku\u00e0i
\nA hamburger is 17 kuai more expensive than a Chinese pancake.<\/h3>\n

Here’s one more specific example for you to practice:<\/p>\n

\u4eca\u5929\u4e8c\u5341\u4e94\u5ea6
\nj\u012bn ti\u0101n \u00e8r sh\u00ed w\u01d4 d\u00f9
\nToday it\u2019s 25 degrees.<\/h3>\n

\u6628\u5929\u4e8c\u5341\u4e8c\u5ea6
\nzu\u00f3 ti\u0101n \u00e8r sh\u00ed \u00e8r d\u00f9
\nYesterday it was 22 degrees.<\/h3>\n

How would you say that it is three degrees hotter today than yesterday?<\/p>\n

\u4eca\u5929\u6bd4\u6628\u5929\u70ed\u4e09\u5ea6
\nj\u012bn ti\u0101n b\u01d0 zu\u00f3 ti\u0101n r\u00e8 s\u0101n d\u00f9
\nToday it\u2019s three degrees hotter than yesterday.<\/h3>\n

Keep practicing and make your own examples and you’ll start to get it in no time.<\/p>\n

Asking Questions<\/h2>\n

It’s always easing asking questions in Chinese! Just like for any yes\/no question, you just need to add the question particle (\u5417 \u2013 ma) to the end of the sentence:<\/p>\n

\u4e2d\u6587\u6bd4\u82f1\u6587\u96be\u5417\uff1f
\nzh\u014dng w\u00e9n b\u01d0 y\u012bng w\u00e9n n\u00e1n ma
\nIs Chinese more difficult than English?<\/h3>\n

Of course, you’ll answer…<\/p>\n

\u4e2d\u6587\u6ca1\u6709\u82f1\u6587\u96be
\nzh\u014dng w\u00e9n m\u00e9i y\u01d2u y\u012bng w\u00e9n n\u00e1n
\nChinese is not as difficult as English.<\/h3>\n

To review everything learned in this post, you can watch this short video from our YouTube channel:<\/p>\n