Chinese Grammar Bank
HOW TO USE 比
Making comparisons is the most crucial purpose of 比 in Chinese Grammar.
Generally speaking, you could think of “比” as meaning “than”
The basic meaning of “比” is easy to understand, but it can get tricky sometimes since the meaning is changeable according to different positions of the words.
STRUCTURE OF 比
To say that A is more (adjective) than B, the structure is:
PATTERN
Noun A + 比 + Noun B + Adjective
More specifically, the first noun (Noun A) should be the one that comes out better in the comparison.
Noun A “今天” is colder. Noun B “昨天” is used as a baseline.
The same situation could be described as:
METHODS TO EMPHASISE AN ADJECTIVE
What if you want to emphasise the comparison in a “比” sentence?
Well, you can upgrade the basic “比” comparison pattern by adding the emphatic adverb “更” or “多了”. You could think of these emphatic adverbs as meaning “more than”.
STRUCTURE #1
Noun A + 比 + Noun B + 更 + Adjective
STRUCTURE #2
Noun A + 比 + Noun B + Adjective + 多了
NOTE // “多了” is an informal expression. Therefore, it is more appropriate to be used in situations such as casual chats.
NEGATIVE FORM OF 比
We’ve already learned the affirmative and emphatic form of the “比” comparison structure, and we now should study the negative form.
STRUCTURE #1
Noun A + 不比 + Noun B + adjective
STRUCTURE #2
Noun A + 没有 + Noun B + adjective
| CHINESE | PINYIN | ENGLISH |
|---|---|---|
| 苹果不比菠萝大。 | píng guǒ bú bǐ bō luó dà | An apple is not as big as a pineapple. |
| 苹果没有菠萝大。 | píng guǒ méi yǒu bō luó dà | An apple is not as big as a pineapple. |
| 圆珠笔不比钢笔好用。 | yuán zhū bǐ bú bǐ gāng bǐ hǎo yòng | Ballpoint pens are no better than fountain pens. |
| 圆珠笔没有钢笔好用。 | yuán zhū bǐ méi yǒu gāng bǐ hǎo yòng | Ballpoint pens are no better than fountain pens. |
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FAQs
How do you pronounce 比 in Chinese?
比 is pronounced: bǐ.
How to use 比?
The structure of the sentence should be:
我的头发比他的短。wǒ de tóu fā bǐ tā de duǎn | My hair is shorter than his.
昨天比今天暖和。zuó tiān bǐ jīn tiān nuǎn huo | Yesterday was warmer than today.
How to use 比 in a negative sentence?
The negative structure of 比 should be:
Noun A + 不比 + Noun B + adjective
OR
Noun A + 没有 + Noun B + adjective
Examples:
苹果不比菠萝大。píng guǒ bú bǐ bō luó dà | An apple is not as big as a pineapple.
圆珠笔没有钢笔好用。yuán zhū bǐ méi yǒu gāng bǐ hǎo yòng |
Ballpoint pens are no better than fountain pens.
What does 比 mean in English?
比 means than in English.
It’s used when making comparisons in Mandarin
How to use 比 with emphatic adverbs?
The structure of the sentence with emphatic adverbs should be: Noun A + 比 + Noun B + 更 + adjective
OR
Noun A + 比 + Noun B + adjective + 多了
Examples:
这里的冬天比纽约更冷。zhè lǐ de dōng tiān bǐ niǔ yuē gèng lěng | Winters are colder here than in New York.
飞机的速度比汽车快多了。fēi jī de sù dù bǐ qì chē kuài duō le | Airplanes are faster than cars.
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