Comparing the Qualities of Things

Making comparisons in Chinese feels a little funky at first, because it is structurally different from English, however it is SUPER CONSISTENT AND EASY once you know the rules.

Our general pattern is this: "subject + comparison + subject + adjective".

This is it.  All comparisons, ALL COMPARISONS follow this format. Now, to help this make more sense, we have to use comparison words:

• "More than" === bǐ

• "Less than" === méiyǒu

Please read through the examples below.

Topic 1 + compared to (bǐ/méiyǒu) + Topic 2 + adjective

A：Nǐ shuài, háishì nǐ de gēge shuài？ 你帅，还是你的哥哥帅？

Two possible answers: B：Wǒ de gēge méiyǒu wǒ shuài. ——> My brother méiyǒu I handsome. (My brother is less handsome than me.) 我的哥哥没有我帅。 B：Wǒ bǐ wǒ de gēge shuài. ——> I bǐ my brother shuài. (I am more handsome than my brother.) 我比我的哥哥帅。

Now, if you want to express something like you are “A LOT” more handsome than your brother or this is “A LITTLE” cheaper than that, we will put hěnduō or yīdiǎn after our adjective.

Topic 1 + compared to (bǐ) + Topic 2 + adjective + yīdiǎn/hěnduō

Wǒ bǐ wǒ de gēge shuài hěnduō. ——>I bǐ my brother handsome a lot. (I am a lot more handsome than my brother.) 我比我的哥哥帅很多。

Zhè shuāng xié bǐ nà shuāng xié piányí yīdiǎn. ——>This shoes bǐ that shoes cheap a little. (This shoes is a little cheaper than that shoes.) 这双鞋比那双鞋便宜一点。