Basic comparisons with "meiyou"

In Chinese, there is another way to make comparisons. You can use 没有 (méiyǒu) to express that something is "not as" adjective as something else. (Yes, that's the same 没有 (méiyǒu) that means "not have," used here in a different way.)

Basic Pattern

As well as with 比 (bǐ), you can also use 没有 (méiyǒu) to make basic comparisons. You could think of 没有 (méiyǒu) as the opposite of 比 (bǐ) - it works in the same way, but rather than expressing "more... than..." it expresses "not as... as...":

Noun 1 + 没有 + Noun 2 + Adj.

In this structure, the noun that's placed first is less "adjective" than the second noun, making 没有 (méiyǒu) the opposite of 比 (bǐ) for comparison purposes. So in the sentence:

• 小张 没有 小李 高 。 Xiǎo Zhāng méiyǒu Xiǎo Lǐ gāo. Xiao Zhang is not as tall as Xiao Li.

小李 (Xiǎo Lǐ) is taller. The same situation could be described as:

• 小李 没有 小张 矮 。 Xiǎo Lǐ méiyǒu Xiǎo Zhāng ǎi. Xiao Li is not as short as Xiao Zhang.

Examples

• 这 个 地方 没有 上海 好玩。 Zhège dìfang méiyǒu Shànghǎi hǎowán. This place is not as fun as Shanghai.
• 火车 没有 飞机 快。 Huǒchē méiyǒu fēijī kuài. Trains are not as fast as airplanes.
• 他 没有 他弟弟 聪明。 Tā méiyǒu tā dìdi cōngming. He's not as smart as his younger brother.
• Obama 没有 Clinton 帅。 Obama méiyǒu Clinton shuài. Obama is not as handsome as Clinton.
• 马云 没有 Bill Gates 有钱。 Mǎyún méiyǒu Bill Gates yǒuqián. Jack Ma is not as rich as Bill Gates.
• 你们 公司 没有 我们公司 大。 Nǐmen gōngsī méiyǒu wǒmen gōngsī dà. Your company is not as big as ours.
• 拼音 没有 汉字 难。 Pīnyīn méiyǒu Hànzì nán. Pinyin is not as difficult as Chinese characters.
• 坐 公交车 没有 坐地铁 方便。 Zuò gōngjiāochē méiyǒu zuò dìtiě fāngbiàn. Taking the bus is not as convenient as taking the metro.
• 小米 手机 没有 iPhone 贵。 Xiǎomǐ shǒujī méiyǒu iPhone guì. The Xiaomi phone is not as expensive as the iPhone.
• 爸爸 做的 菜 没有 妈妈 做的菜 好吃。Bàba zuò de cài méiyǒu māma zuò de cài hǎochī. The food dad cooks is not as tasty as the food mom cooks.

See also

• Basic comparisons with "bi"
• Basic comparisons with "bu bi"
• Comparisons with "buru"

Sources and further reading

Books

• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 (3rd ed) (pp. 69- 71) →buy
• Chinese: An Essential Grammar, Second Edition (pp. 54-5) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 3 (新实用汉语课本3) (pp. 33-4) →buy