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 很多 (hěn duō), 多了(duō le), or 得多 (de duō). This is like saying that one thing is much more Adj. than another in English.

Noun 1 + 比 + Noun 2 + Adj. + 很多 / 得多 / 多了

Examples

• 拼音 比 汉字 容易 很多 。Pīnyīn bǐ Hànzì róngyì hěn duō.Pinyin is much easier than Chinese characters.
• 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.
• 这 个 女老师 比 那个 男老师 严格 得 多 。Zhège nǚ lǎoshī bǐ nàge nán lǎoshī yángé de duō.This female teacher is much more strict than that male teacher.
• 我 老婆 的 工资 比 我 高 得多 。Wǒ lǎopo de gōngzī bǐ wǒ gāo de duō.My wife's salary is much higher than mine.
• 你 比 我 有经验 多了 。Nǐ bǐ wǒ yǒu jīngyàn duō le.You're much more experienced than me.
• 你们 比 我们 幸运 多了 。Nǐmen bǐ wǒmen xìngyùn duō le.You're much luckier than us.
• 他 打 篮球 比 我 厉害 多 了 。Tā dǎ lánqiú bǐ wǒ lìhai duō le.He plays basketball much better than I do.

Given sufficient context, it's possible to use 多了 without the full comparison pattern. (多了 is the only one of the three "much more" phrases introduced in this article which can be used this way.)

Subj. + Adj. + 多了

A few examples:

• 我 的 感冒 好 多了 。We both know I've had this bad cold.Wǒ de gǎnmào hǎo duō le.My cold is getting much better.
• 最近 天气 暖和 多了 。We're both aware of recent weather, obviously.Zuìjìn tiānqì nuǎnhuo duō le.It's been much warmer lately.
• 上 大学 以后 ，她 成熟 多了 。We both know how immature she used to be.Shàng dàxué yǐhòu, tā chéngshú duō le.She became much more mature after she went to college.

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) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 (3rd ed) (pp. 6- 8) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy

Websites

• East Asia Student: Graded comparisons in Mandarin Chinese