Language/Yue-chinese/Grammar/Making-Comparisons

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Yue Chinese → Grammar → 0 to A1 Course → Comparatives and Superlatives → Making Comparisons

As a Yue Chinese language teacher with 20 years of experience, I'm here to guide you through the process of making comparisons in Yue Chinese. Comparatives and superlatives are essential when it comes to describing and distinguishing things and people from each other. In this lesson, we will focus on comparative adjectives, such as bigger, smaller, and more expensive, and you'll learn how to use them to make comparisons in simple, easy-to-remember ways.

Don't miss the chance to check out these pages as you wrap up this lesson: Expressing the Best and the Worst & Subject Verb Object.

What Are Comparatives?

Before we dive into making comparisons, we must understand what comparatives are. Comparatives are words that are used to compare a person or an object with another person or object. Comparatives usually come in pairs, such as bigger/smaller, faster/slower, and more/less. The words allow us to understand the difference between two things, whether it is size, speed, or price.

To create a comparative sentence in Yue Chinese, we need an adjective to describe the compared items and the word "比" (bǐ) to indicate the comparison.

Here's an example:

Yue Chinese	Pronunciation	English
这个苹果比那个苹果大。	Zhè gè píngguǒ bǐ nà gè píngguǒ dà.	This apple is bigger than that apple.

In this example, we have two objects, "这个苹果" (zhè gè píngguǒ) and "那个苹果" (nà gè píngguǒ), and we are comparing their size using the adjective "大" (dà). The word "比" (bǐ) serves as the linking word for the comparison.

Comparative Adjectives

In Yue Chinese, there are two primary ways of forming comparative adjectives: adding "更" (gèng) or adding "比" (bǐ) in front of the adjective.

Let's see some examples:

Adding "更" (gèng):

Yue Chinese	Pronunciation	English
这条鱼更大。	Zhè tiáo yú gèng dà.	This fish is bigger.

In this example, we only use the adjective "大" (dà) and add "更" (gèng) before it. This indicates that the fish is "more big" than another fish.

Adding "比" (bǐ) before the adjective:

Yue Chinese	Pronunciation	English
这条鱼比那条鱼大。	Zhè tiáo yú bǐ nà tiáo yú dà.	This fish is bigger than that fish.

In this example, we use the word "比" (bǐ) to indicate the comparison and the adjective "大" (dà) to describe the size difference between the two fishes.

As you can see, the adjective used to describe the compared objects remains the same. We only add either "更" (gèng) or "比" (bǐ) to change the meaning to "more" or "than."

Here are some of the most commonly used adjectives for comparisons:

大 (dà) - big
小 (xiǎo) - small
高 (gāo) - tall
矮 (ǎi) - short
快 (kuài) - fast
慢 (màn) - slow
便宜 (piányi) - cheap
贵 (guì) - expensive
好 (hǎo) - good
坏 (huài) - bad

Irregular Comparatives

As with any language, there are always exceptions to the rule. In Yue Chinese, there are some adjectives that do not follow the regular comparative form. Here are some examples:

好 (hǎo) - good: The comparative form of "好" (hǎo) is "更好" (gèng hǎo).
少 (shǎo) - few/little: The comparative form of "少" (shǎo) is "比较少" (bǐjiào shǎo).
多 (duō) - many/much: The comparative form of "多" (duō) is "更多" (gèng duō).

In the example below, we use the irregular adjective "好" (hǎo) to make a comparison:

Yue Chinese	Pronunciation	English
这家店的饭比另外一家店的饭更好吃。	Zhè jiā diàn de fàn bǐ lìngwài yī jiā diàn de fàn gèng hǎochī.	The food in this restaurant is more delicious than the food in another restaurant.

Here, we use the phrase "更好吃" (gèng hǎochī) to indicate that the food in this restaurant is "more good" to eat than the one in another restaurant.

Using "比较" (bǐjiào) for Comparisons

In Yue Chinese, "比较" (bǐjiào) is another way of making comparisons. It means "relatively" or "comparatively" and is used to compare the size, speed or price of two things. It is most commonly used to make comparisons between similar items.

Let's see an example:

Yue Chinese	Pronunciation	English
我比较喜欢小吃。	Wǒ bǐjiào xǐhuan xiǎochī.	I relatively prefer snacks.

In this example, we use "比较" (bǐjiào) to indicate that the person prefers snacks more than other types of food.

Here are some more examples:

我妈妈比较喜欢看电影。 (Wǒ māma bǐjiào xǐhuan kàn diànyǐng.) - My mom relatively prefers to watch movies.
我的车比较快。 (Wǒ de chē bǐjiào kuài.) - My car is relatively fast.

Practice Makes Perfect

Let's put what you've learned into practice! Here are some exercises for you to try:

1. Make a comparison using "更" (gèng): 比较好看 / 这条裙子 / 那条裙子

2. Create a comparison using "比" (bǐ): 比较高 / 这座山 / 那座山

3. Complete the sentence using "比较" (bǐjiào): 这家饭馆的菜 __________ 好吃。 (Zhè jiā fànguǎn de cài ______ hǎochī.)

Answers: 1. 这条裙子更好看。 (Zhè tiáo qúnzi gèng hǎokàn.) 2. 这座山比那座山高。 (Zhè zuò shān bǐ nà zuò shān gāo.) 3. 比较 (Bǐjiào)

Conclusion

Making comparisons in Yue Chinese is not as hard as it may seem at first. Remember that comparatives are words that are used to compare a person or an object with another person or object. You can use either "更" (gèng) or "比" (bǐ) to form comparative adjectives, but be mindful that there are certain adjectives that follow irregular patterns. Finally, "比较" (bǐjiào) is another way to make comparisons between similar items.

Keep practicing making comparisons and soon you'll be able to master the art of expressing the difference between things and people in Yue Chinese with ease!

Table of Contents - Yue Chinese Course - 0 to A1

Course Presentation

Greetings and Introductions

Basic Sentence Structure

Numbers and Time

Pronouns and Possessives

Family and Relationships

Adjectives and Adverbs

Food and Dining

Prepositions and Conjunctions

Travel and Transportation

Verb Tenses and Aspects

Yue Chinese Customs and Traditions

Shopping and Services

Comparatives and Superlatives

Yue Chinese Art and Literature

Other Lessons

Contributors

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