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

Revision as of 07:53, 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.

我比你 不聪明
你比我聪明
我比你本

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

我比你 一样聪明 。
我跟你 一样聪明 。

Finally, to express "not as... as," use 没有, and to express "not more... than" use 不比 (the negative cousin of 比).

Sources and further reading

Websites

East Asia Student: Simple comparisons in Mandarin Chinese

@@ Line 41: / Line 41: @@
 The adjective used in the comparison should be positive, not negative.
+<div class="liju">
+<ul>
+<li class="x">我 <em>比</em> 你 <strong>不 聪明</strong></li>
+<li class="o">你 <em>比</em> 我 聪明</li>
+<li class="o">我 <em>比</em> 你 本</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
 比 is not used with 一样.  比 is used when two things are ''not'' the same.
+<div class="liju">
+<ul>
+<li class="x">我 <em>比</em> 你 <strong>一样 聪明</strong> 。</li>
+<li class="o">我 <em>跟</em> 你 <strong>一样 聪明</strong> 。</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
 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).