Basic comparisons with "meiyou"

Revision as of 07:07, 3 July 2015 by Mblood (talk | contribs)

In Chinese, there is another way to make comparisons. You can use 没有(méiyǒu) to express that something is "not as" as something else.

Basic pattern

As well as with (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 + Adjective

In this structure, the noun that's placed first is less "adjective" than the second noun (hence 没有 (méiyǒu) being like 比 (bǐ) in reverse). So in the sentence:

  • 小张 没有 小李 高 。 Xiǎozhāng méiyǒu XiǎoLǐ 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 。 Xiǎolǐ méiyǒu XiǎoZhāng ǎi. Xiao Li is not as short as Xiao Zhang.

Examples

  • 没有 我 胖 。 méiyǒu wǒ pàng. You are not as fat as me. (You do not have my fatness.)
  • 他们 没有 我们 酷 。 Tāmen méiyǒu wǒmen kù. They are not as cool as us. (They do not have the coolness we have.)
  • 火车 没有 飞机 快 。 Huǒchē méiyǒu fēijī kuài. Train is not as fast airplane. (This car does not have the speed of that other car.)
  • 上海 没有 北京 冷 。 Shànghǎi méiyǒu Běijīng lěng. Shanghai is not as cold as Beijing.
  • 没有 你 聪明 。 méiyǒu nǐ cōngming. I am not as clever as you.
  • 中国 没有 美国 大 。 Zhōngguó méiyǒu Měiguó dà. China is not as big as the USA.
  • 这 本 书 没有 那 本 书 有意思 。 Zhè běn shū méiyǒu nà běn shū yǒuyìsi. This book is not as interesting as that book.
  • 中国 菜 没有 西餐 好吃 。 Zhōngguó cài méiyǒu xīcān hǎochī. The Chinese food is not better to eat than western style food.
  • 学 中文 没有 学 英文 容易 。 Xué Zhōngwén méiyǒu xué Yīngwén róngyì. Studying Chinese is not easier than studying English.
  • 住 在 东京 没有 住 在 香港 方便 。 Zhù zài DōngJīng méiyǒu zhù zài XiāngGǎng fāngbiàn. Living in Tokyo is not more convenient than living in Hong Kong.

See also

Sources and further reading

Books