Rules for forming Chinese comparative sentences

In Chinese, there two kinds of comparative sentences:

汉语中有两种比较句:

• A comparison of two or more things that do not appear at the same time in a sentence, but the speaker is         aware that both arguments exist.

  两个或两个以上被比较对象不同时出现在句中，但说话者能意识到两者的存在。

 • A comparison between 2 or more things that are both in the sentence.

  两个或两个以上被比较对象均在句中。

Let's look at the first type of comparison!

首先看一下第一种比较句

1. Rules for comparing two things that do not appear at the same time in a sentence.

    两个比较对象不同时出现在句中

In this kind of sentence, there is an implication that one thing is being compared with another, although the "other" is not explicitly mentioned. So, if I was to say "Your dress is beautiful", it implies that there are other dresses which are not as beautiful. The following are rules to follow in order to make this kind of comparison in Chinese:

这种比较句中，虽然有一个被比较的对象没有明确表示出来，但仍然可以看出是两者的比较。例如，我说“你的裙子漂亮”，暗指其他的裙子没有这条裙子漂亮。以下是构造中文比较句时所需遵循的规则。

a) Adjectives in a comparative sentence

    比较句中的形容词

When an adjective is used in a comparative sentence, it can not used with an adverb, such as "很" or "非常".

比较句中的形容词不与“很”或“非常”等类似的副词连用。

In the following example, the adjective is 好看, which in this example means interesting:

在以下例句中，“好看”为形容词，英文意思为interesting

这部电影好看。(zhè bù diàn yǐng hǎo kàn) = This movie is interesting.

b) Adjective + quantifier

   形容词+量词

这部电影好看一些。(zhè bù diàn yǐng hǎo kàn yī xiē.) = This movie is a little more interesting.

c) Comparative adverbs + adjective

    比较副词+形容词

这部电影更好看。(zhè bù diàn yǐng gèng hǎo kàn.) = This movie is more interesting.

这部电影最好看。(zhè bù diàn yǐng zuì hǎo kàn.) = This movie is the most interesting.

2. Comparing two things that both appear at the same time in a sentence.

    比较对象同时出现在一个句子中

Next let's look at using 比 to compare two things. 比 (bǐ) basically means "than", but you can see this in more detail in the examples below. You notice that in comparative sentences using 比, we do not use adverbs such as "很" "非常" etc. Instead we use "更" "还" "多" "远" etc.

接下来，我们看一下用“比”字比较两个事物。在这里“比”的英文意思为“than”，其详细用法请见以下例句。在比较句当中，用了“比”之后，就不用“很”、“非常”等副词，而是用“更”、“还”、“多”以及“远”等词。

a) A比B+（更/还）+ adj./verb:

    A比B+（更/还）+ 形容词/动词

她的帽子比我的更好看。(tā de mào zi bǐ wǒ de gèng hǎo kàn.) = Her hat is more beautiful than mine.

他比我更喜欢看书。(tā bǐ wǒ gèng xǐ huan kàn shū.) He likes reading much more than me.

b) A比B+ adj. + quantitative complement:

    A比B+形容词+ 表示“量”的补语

他的年纪比我大得多。(tā de nián jì bǐ wǒ dà de duō.) = He is much older than me.

c) A比B+多（少）/早（晚）+ verb + quantifier:

    A比B+多（少）/早（晚）+ 动词+量词

我比他多跑了五公里。(wǒ bǐ tā duō pǎo le wǔ gōng lǐ.) = I ran 5 miles more than him.

我比他晚五分钟到电影院。(wǒ bǐ tā wǎn wǔ fēn zhōng dào diàn yǐng yuàn.) = I arrived at the cinema 5 minutes later than him。

他的游泳水平比他哥哥差远了。(tā de yóu yǒng shuǐ píng bǐ tā gē ge chà yuǎn le.) = He doesn’t swim as well as his brother.

It's also important to know how to compare using negations like 没有 and 不比. Although you may commonly only know 没有 to mean "not to have", it also means "not to be". The following section looks at these two examples:

“没有”和“不比”也可用于比较不同的事物。了解如何运用这两个词对你至关重要。如你所知，“没有”常见的意思为“not to have”，但它也有“not to be”的意思。请看以下例句：

3. Negative comparative sentences using “没有” & “不比”

   含有“没有”& “不比”的比较句

The usages of these two are very different, let's take a look at the examples below:

“没有”和“不比”的用法差别很大。请看以下例句：

a) Using 没有

    “没有”的用法

我没有你大。 (wǒ méi yǒu nǐ dà.) = I am not older than you.

If we translate this sentence, it comes out like this: I 'not be' (compared with) you am old.

该句字面翻译为I ‘not be’ (compared with) you am old。

b) A没有B+（那么/这么）

没有 is always used with a positive adjective such as 漂亮, 高 and 帅.

“没有”通常与“漂亮”、“高”和“帅”等褒义词连用.

她没有你漂亮。(tā méi yǒu nǐ piào liang.) = She is not more beautiful than you.

他家离公司没有你家离得那么远。(tā jiā lí gōng sī méi yǒu nǐ jiā lí de nà me yuǎn.) = His home is not as far from the company as yours.

c) Using 不比

    “不比”的用法

Next, let's look at how to use 不比 (bù bǐ), which means "unlike".

现在，请看“不比”的用法，“不比”的英文意思为“unlike”

我不比你大。(wǒ bù bǐ nǐ dà.) = I am not older than you.

Negations such as "不" and "没有" can not be used directly before an adjective.

“不”和“没有”等否定词不能直接放在形容词之前。

这个书包比那个书包不大。× (zhè ge shū bāo bǐ nèi gè shū bāo bú dà.)

这个书包比那个书包没有大。× (zhè ge shū bāo bǐ nèi gè shū bāo méi yǒu dà.)

这个书包没有那个书包大。√ (zhè ge shū bāoméi yǒu nèi gè shū bāo dà.) This school bag is not bigger than that one.

4. Comparative sentences to express similarities and differences:

    表示相似或差异的比较句

One of the ways we can talk about things being the same or different is by using 一样 (yī yàng).

若某些事情相同或不同，可用“一样（yī yàng）”来表示：

a) A跟（和）B+（不）一样+（adj.）

    A跟（和）B+（不）一样+（形容词）

我和他一样大。(wǒ hé tā yī yàng dà.) = I am the same age as him.

这张纸的颜色跟那张不一样。(zhè zhāng zhǐ de yán sè gēn nà zhāng bù yī yàng.) = The colour of this paper is different from that one.

Note: We can use "差不多", "几乎", "不太", and "完全" with （不）一样.

注意：“差不多”、“几乎”、“不太”“、完全”可用于修饰“（不）一样”。

我和我妈妈的性格完全不一样。(wǒ hé wǒ mā ma de xìng gé wán quán bù yī yàng.) = My disposition is totally different from my mother's.

b) A+不如+B+ predicate phrase

    A+不如+B+ 谓语短语

她的歌唱得不如她姐姐好。(tā de gē chàng de bù rú tā jiě jie hǎo.) = Her sister sings better than her.

In this example, 不如 (bù rú) means 'not as good as'. Also, when 不如 is included in the sentence a positive adjective is often used.

在该例句中，“不如”的意思为“没有……好”， 英文意思为not as good as。若句中有“不如”，则其后面的形容词通常为褒义词。

他游泳不如我慢。× (tā yóu yǒng bù rú wǒ màn.)

他游泳不如我快。√ (tā yóu yǒng bù rú wǒ kuài.) = He swims slower than me.

c) A +有+B+这么/那么+adj.

    A +有+B+这么/那么+形容词

我的伞有你的伞那么大。(wǒ de sǎn yǒu nǐ de sǎn nà me dà.) = My umbrella is as big as yours.