Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar

makiNG ComPariSoNS

33.3

33.3.1 Comparing noun phrases in terms of adjectival verbs

NP 1 比 NP 2 AV

NP 1 bǐ NP 2 AV

NP 1 is more AV than NP 2

中国比日本大。 我的身体比以前好了。

中國比日本大。 我的身體比以前好了。

Zhōngguó bǐ Rìběn dà. Wǒ de shēntǐ bǐ yǐqián hǎo le.

China is bigger than Japan. My health is better than before.

吃饭比做饭容易。 写字比认字难。

吃飯比做飯容易。 寫字比認字難。

Chī fàn bǐ zuò fàn róngyì. Xiě zì bǐ rèn zì nán.

Eating is easier than cooking. Writing characters is harder

than recognizing characters.

Note

In the third and fourth example sentences in this section, the phrases that are being compared are a verb

+ object. In these sentences, the verb + object together function as a noun phrase, serving as the subject

of the sentence or as the object of 比 bh.

33.3.2 Comparing noun phrases in terms of stative verbs

Stative verbs such as ài ‘to love’ and xǐhuan ‘to like to,’ ‘to prefer’ take noun phrase objects

or verb phrase complements. The stative verb and its object or complement is a stative verb

phrase (SVP). When comparing two noun phrases in terms of a stative verb phrase, say:

NP 1 比 NP 2 SVP

NP 1 bǐ NP 2 SVP

NP 1 is more SVP than NP 2

他比我爱吃中国饭。

他比我愛吃中國飯。

Tā bǐ wǒ ài chī Zhōngguó fàn.

He loves to eat Chinese food more than I.

张先生比张太太喜欢买书。

張先生比張太太喜歡買書。

Zhāng xiānsheng bǐ Zhāng tàitai xǐhuan mǎi shū.

Mr. Zhang likes to buy books more than Mrs. Zhang.

C 11

33.3.3 Comparing noun phrases in terms of modal verb phrases

To compare noun phrases in terms of verb phrases that begin with a modal verb, say:

NP 1 比 NP 2 MVP

NP 1 bǐ NP 2 MVP

NP 1 is more MVP than NP 2

我姐姐比我哥哥会唱歌。(MV)

我姐姐比我哥哥會唱歌。

Wǒ jiějie bǐ wǒ gēgē huì chàng gē.

My older sister can sing better than my older brother.

33.3.4 indicating quantity in ‘more than’ comparisons

When comparing noun phrases, it is possible to indicate how much more one noun phrase is

than the other. The phrase that indicates the quantity occurs at the end of the sentence, after

the adjectival verb or stative verb.