Difference between revisions of "Basic comparisons with "bi""

Revision as of 07:37, 19 October 2011

Also known as: 比字句 (bǐzì jù).

To say that one thing is more adjective than another, the structure is:

Noun 1 + 比 + Noun 2 + Adjective

This 比 (bǐ) sits between the two things being compared. The noun that's placed first is the one that comes out on top in the comparison. So in the sentence:

小李比小张高。

小李 is taller. The same situation could be described as

小张比小李矮。

Some more examples:

她比我大。
我比你胖。
美国比英国大。
这条路 比 那条 长。

Common Errors

Try not to make these mistakes:

The adjective used in the comparison should be positive, not negative.

比 is not used with 一样. 比 is used when two things are not the same.

Finally, to express [Basic comparisons with "meiyou"|"not as... as," use 没有], and to express [Basic comparisons with "bu bi"|"not more... than" use 不比] (the negative cousin of 比).

Sources and further reading

Websites

East Asia Student: Simple comparisons in Mandarin Chinese

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+== Common Errors ==
+Try not to make these mistakes:
+The adjective used in the comparison should be positive, not negative.
+比 is not used with 一样.  比 is used when two things are ''not'' the same.
+Finally, to express [Basic comparisons with "meiyou"|"not as... as," use 没有], and to express [Basic comparisons with "bu bi"|"not more... than" use 不比] (the negative cousin of 比).
 == Sources and further reading ==