Basic comparisons with "meiyou"
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Keywords
Basic patterns
As well as with 比, you can also use 没有 (méiyǒu) to make basic comparisons. You could think of 没有 as the opposite of 比 - it works in the same way, but rather than expressing "more... than..." it expresses "not as... as...":
Noun 1 + 没有 + Noun 2 + Adjective
In this structure, the noun that's placed first is less "adjective" than the second noun (hence 没有 being like 比 in reverse). So in the sentence:
- 小张 没有 小李 高。 (Xiao Zhang is not as tall as Xiao Li.)
小李 is taller. The same situation could be described as:
- 小李 没有 小张 矮。 (Xiao Li is not as short as Xiao Zhang.)
Examples
- 你 没有 我 胖。
- 他们 没有 我们 酷。
- 这 辆 车 没有 那 辆 快。
See also
Sources and further reading
Books
- 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
