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Daily lessons · Day 26 of 90
Comparing things
More, less and the same
Adjectives never change shape in Chinese, so there is no bigger or biggest to learn. Comparison is done with a small word placed between the two things, and the adjective stays exactly as it is.
A 比 B adjective
比 goes between the two things, and the adjective comes last, bare.
Why it works
Drop the 很 in a comparison. 我很高 means I am tall, and 我比你高 means I am taller than you, but 我比你很高 is wrong. The 很 from day 2 exists to stop a bare adjective sounding like an unfinished comparison, and in a real comparison it is not needed any more.
Less, and the same
There is no direct opposite of 比. Chinese turns the sentence around or uses 没有.
Why it works
没有 doing comparison work looks odd until you read it as does not have as much: 我没有你高 is I do not have your height. 差不多 is worth learning properly, because it covers about the same, more or less, and nearly, and it is one of the most frequently used expressions in everyday speech.
The most
最 goes straight before the adjective, and nothing else changes.
Why it works
比较 is a useful hedge. 比较好 says better or fairly good without naming what you are comparing it to, which is a polite way of preferring one option without criticising the other. It is the comparison equivalent of 不太 from day 16.
Age is a fair question
你多大 asks an adult's age and is not considered rude, though 您多大年纪 is the form for someone clearly older. Age determines how people address each other and who defers to whom, so it is genuinely useful information rather than idle curiosity, which is why it comes up so early in conversations.
Carried over from earlier days
Say each one out loud before you look at the English.
Today’s words 12
Check yourself
8 questions. Get 6 right to finish the day.
Which is correct for I'm taller than you?
- 我比你高 wǒ bǐ nǐ gāo
- 我比你很高 wǒ bǐ nǐ hěn gāo
- 我高比你 wǒ gāo bǐ nǐ
- 比我你高 bǐ wǒ nǐ gāo
Show the answer
我比你高 wǒ bǐ nǐ gāo Drop the 很 in a comparison, and leave the adjective bare.
Type this one is the cheapest in pinyin.
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zhège zuì piányi 最 goes straight before the adjective.
Why is there no separate word for taller?
- adjectives never change shape, so 比 does the work
- Chinese has no comparisons
- taller is expressed with 了
- it is 高高
Show the answer
adjectives never change shape, so 比 does the work There is no bigger or biggest to learn.
What does 我没有你高 mean?
- I'm not as tall as you
- I don't have your height measured
- you are not tall
- I am taller
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I'm not as tall as you Read 没有 as does not have as much.
Which means about the same?
- 差不多 chàbuduō
- 不一样 bù yíyàng
- 最好 zuì hǎo
- 比较好 bǐjiào hǎo
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差不多 chàbuduō Literally short by not much. Extremely common.
Where does the amount go in 他比我大两岁?
- after the adjective
- before 比
- at the start
- after the subject
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after the adjective 比 A, adjective, then how much by.
Why is 比较好 a useful hedge?
- it prefers one option without naming what it is better than
- it is very formal
- it means perfect
- it is a question
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it prefers one option without naming what it is better than The comparison equivalent of 不太.
Type these two are the same in pinyin.
Show the answer
zhè liǎng gè yíyàng 两 for a quantity, and 一 rises to yí before the fourth tone.
Question 1 of 8
Writing practice optional
Every character from today, in the order it came up. Watch it, trace it, then write it from memory.
Press Watch to see the stroke order.
Stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi via Hanzi Writer, Arphic Public License.
Character 1 of 31
This lesson is written by an English speaker who learned Mandarin as a second language, and it is waiting on a check by a native speaker. If you spot something off, please tell us and we will fix it.