Expressing "much more" in comparisons

If you want to up the intensity of your comparisons, you might want to express "much more." You can do this using 多 (duō), but did you know there are actually three different ways to do it?

Structure

As well as expressing that two things differ, you might want to go further and say that they differ a lot by adding 得多 / 多了/ 很多 (dé duō/duō le/hěn duō). This is like saying that one thing is much more Adj. than another in English.

Subj. + 比 + Noun + Adj. + 得多 / 多了 / 很多

Examples

• 他 比 我 高 得多。Tā bǐ wǒ gāo de duō.He is a lot taller than I am.
• 我 比 他 聪明 多了。Wǒ bǐ tā cōngming duō le.I am much smarter than he is.
• 上海 比 我 老家 贵 多了。It's much more expensive in Shanghai than in my hometown.
• 这 个 老师 比 那个 老师 严格 得多。You're a lot fatter than I am.
• 你 妈妈 比 我 妈妈 年轻 很多。Nǐ māma bǐ wǒ māma niánqīng hěn duō.Your mother is much younger than my mother.
• 坐 高铁 比 坐 飞机 方便 很多。Zuò gāotiě bǐ zuò fēijī fāngbiàn hěn duō.It's much more convenient to take the high-speed train than the airplane.

See also

• Expressing "a bit too"
• Basic comparisons with "bi"
• The "zui" superlative
• Basic comparisons with "bu bi"

Sources and further reading

Books

• New Practical Chinese Reader 4 (新实用汉语课本4) (pp. 20) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 (3rd ed) (pp. 6- 8) →buy

Websites

• East Asia Student: Graded comparisons in Mandarin Chinese