Learn how to make basic comparisons
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| 嗨大家好，我是殷如。 |
| (Hài dà jiā hǎo, wǒ shì Yīnrú.) |
| “Hi everyone, I’m Yinru.” |
| In this lesson, we’ll talk about how to make comparisons in Chinese. |
| Comparing two things is easy and straightforward in Chinese. There is no change of word form and there is one pattern that’s always safe to use. |
| Let’s say you’re comparing two places; Place 1 and Place 2. |
| Here is how you do it: |
| [Place 1] 比 (bǐ) [Place 2] [adjective] |
| Okay. The key word in this pattern is 比 (bǐ). |
| 比 (bǐ) means “compared with.” |
| So the literal translation of this pattern is: |
| “[Place 1] compared with [Place 2] [adjective].” |
| Or in English, we would say: |
| “[Place 1] is more [adjective] than [Place 2].” |
| So remember to put the two things you’re comparing on each side of 比 (bǐ). And the one who wins, the one who’s more adjective goes first, and followed by 比 (bǐ), which s followed by Place 2. And directly after that, there’s nothing in between your adjective. |
| Okay. So again, the pattern is: |
| [Place 1] 比 (bǐ) [Place 2] [adjective] |
| That’s it! |
| So, let’s look at some examples. |
| For example, you are comparing two Chinese cities, okay. So in Place 1, we’ll use 成都 (Chéngdū). 成都 (Chéngdū) is a city in the southwest part of China, with all the spicy food, okay. And Place 2, we’ll use 西安 (Xī'ān). 西安 (Xī'ān) is in the northwest part of China with the terra-cotta soldiers. |
| So if I say… |
| 成都比西安大 (Chéngdū bǐ Xī'ān dà), I mean “Chengdu is bigger than Xi’an.” |
| 成都比西安大。(Chéngdū bǐ Xī'ān dà.) [enunciated] |
| All right, let’s, next, let’s compare two cities outside China, okay? |
| So, in the second example sentence, Place 1, we used 西雅图 (Xīyǎtú). 西雅图 (Xīyǎtú) is “Seattle.” Okay. And in Place 2, we have 伦敦 (Lúndūn). 伦敦 (Lúndūn) is “London.” Okay. |
| So, so far, we know we’re comparing Seattle with London and Seattle apparently is more strong adjective than London. So what is that adjective? |
| 雨水多 (yǔshuǐ duō) |
| Well, technically speaking, 雨水多 (yǔshuǐ duō) is more of an adjective phrase. |
| 雨水 (yǔshuǐ) means “rainwater” or “rain.” |
| And 多 (duō) means “a lot.” |
| So, 雨水多 (yǔshuǐ duō) means “lots of rain” or “rainy.” |
| Okay. So, 西雅图比伦敦雨水多 (Xīyǎtú bǐ lúndūn yǔshuǐ duō) means “Seattle is more rainy than London.” Okay. |
| 西雅图比伦敦雨水多 (Xīyǎtú bǐ lúndūn yǔshuǐ duō) |
| Now, you should understand this pattern better and you will be more happy to know that this pattern is not only limited to two places, okay. You can use this pattern to compare any two things by using “A 比(bǐ) B [adjective],” okay. “A is more adjective than B.” So there you have it, the very, a very common useful and fundamental pattern to make any comparisons in Chinese. |
| Next, you’re going to hear a dialogue between two friends. One is asking the other about his hometown. So while listening, I want you to pay attention to how the second person describes his hometown. Ready? |
| 唐山小吗？ (Tángshān xiǎo ma?) |
| 嗯，唐山比北京小。 (En, tángshān bǐ běijīng xiǎo.) |
| Okay, once more, a bit slower. |
| 唐山小吗？ (Tángshān xiǎo ma?) [enunciated] |
| 嗯，唐山比北京小。 (En, tángshān bǐ běijīng xiǎo.) [enunciated] |
| Okay, did you take note of how the comparison was made? |
| Let’s go over this dialogue line by line. |
| The first line is… |
| 唐山.. .(Tángshān...), apparently, it’s a city name. |
| 唐山小吗？ (Tángshān xiǎo ma?) |
| It’s a question meaning, “Is Tangshan small?” |
| Is… Tangshan... small? |
| So, while the second person first thought about it and made a thinking noise, 嗯 (en) which could translate to “well” and then he made this comparison: |
| 唐山比北京小 (Tángshān bǐ Běijīng xiǎo) which means “Tangshan is smaller than Beijing,” okay. Let’s just use TS for Tangshan, “...is smaller than Beijing.” |
| So that’s actually a pretty good answer because everything is relative. |
| “Is Tangshan small?” 唐山小吗？ (Tángshān xiǎo ma?) |
| Compared with Beijing, it’s small. |
| 嗯，唐山比北京小。 (En, tángshān bǐ běijīng xiǎo.) |
| Okay. So there are, when comparing two places, there are other common adjectives, you can stick, you can use in our main pattern. |
| So, for example, we have 冷 (lěng). |
| 冷 (lěng) is an adjective meaning “cold.” |
| So, if you say… |
| 什么地方比什么地方冷 (Shénme dìfāng bǐ shénme dìfāng lěng), it means “Certain place is colder than the other place.” |
| So for example, let’s say… |
| 沈阳比北京冷。 (Shěnyáng bǐ Běijīng lěng.) |
| 沈阳... (Shěnyáng...) |
| 沈阳比北京 (Shěnyáng bǐ Běijīng...) and since we know the Pinyin for Beijing, let’s skip that. |
| 沈阳比北京冷 (Shěnyáng bǐ Běijīng lěng) means “Shenyang is colder than Beijing.” |
| Okay. |
| But we can also use 古老 (gǔlǎo). |
| 古老 (gǔlǎo) [enunicated] |
| 古老 (gǔlǎo) means “old” or “ancient.” |
| In particular, any place or any object that’s cold, that’s old, so be careful not to use 古老 (gǔlǎo) on people. |
| So let’s say… |
| 南京比迪拜古老。(Nánjīng bǐ díbài gǔlǎo.) |
| 南京... (Nánjīng…) |
| 南京比... (Nánjīng bǐ…) |
| 迪拜 (Díbài) is “Dubai.” |
| 迪拜 (Díbài) [enunciated] |
| So, 南京... (Nánjīng…), sorry. |
| 南京比迪拜古老 (Nánjīng bǐ díbài gǔlǎo) means “Nanjing is older than Dubai.” |
| Okay. |
| Next one, the next, next adjective is 拥挤 (yōngjǐ). |
| 拥挤 (yōngjǐ) means “crowded.” |
| 拥挤 (yōngjǐ) [enunciated] |
| How about… |
| 上海比北京拥挤。 (Shànghǎi bǐ Běijīng yǒngjǐ.) |
| Even though both cities are pretty crowded, but Shanghai wins this one, so let’s put Shanghai first. |
| 上海比... (Shànghǎi bǐ…), again, 北京 (Běijīng). |
| 上海比北京拥挤。 (Shànghǎi bǐ Běijīng yǒngjǐ.) “Shanghai is more crowded than Beijing.” |
| Okay. |
| Next is the one we know that’s in our dialogue. |
| 小 (xiǎo) means “small.” |
| So 什么地方比什么地方小 (Shénme dìfāng bǐ shénme dìfāng xiǎo) means “certain place is smaller than the other place,” like 唐山比北京小。 (Tángshān bǐ Běijīng xiǎo.) |
| 比北京小 (bǐ Běijīng xiǎo) |
| And, the opposite of 小 (xiǎo) is 大 (dà), okay. |
| 大 (dà) means “big.” |
| So, we talked about… |
| 成都比西安大。(Chéngdū bǐ Xī'ān dà.) “Chengdu is bigger than Xi’an.” |
| So, 成都比西安大。(Chéngdū bǐ Xī'ān dà.) [enunciated] |
| And the last one is also what we mentioned before. |
| 雨水多 (yǔshuǐ duō) means “rainy.” |
| 西雅图比伦敦雨水多。(Xīyǎtú bǐ Lúndūn yǔshuǐ duō.) |
| 西雅图比伦敦雨水多。(Xīyǎtú bǐ Lúndūn yǔshuǐ duō.) [enunciated] |
| All right. Let’s go over our adjectives one more time. |
| 什么比什么冷 (Shénme bǐ shénme lěng). |
| 冷 (lěng) “cold” |
| And 古老 (gǔlǎo) “old” or “ancient” |
| 古老 (gǔlǎo) |
| 拥挤 (yōngjǐ) “crowded” |
| 拥挤 (yōngjǐ) |
| 小 (xiǎo) “small” |
| 小 (xiǎo) |
| 大 (dà) “big” |
| 大 (dà) |
| 雨水多 (yǔshuǐ duō) “rainy” |
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