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Study in the app →Mandarin Chinese · HSK 3.0 Band 2 · Chapter 5
你的中文比我好多了 Your Chinese is way better than mine
Builds on ch4's 比 pattern with two ways to express degree: 更 / 还 ("even more") as intensifiers, and quantity complements (一点儿 / 多了) after the adjective to say "by how much" the difference is.
Dialogue
你的中文比上次好多了 — Your Chinese is way better than last time
- 高文 大卫, 你的中文比上次好多了. David, your Chinese is way better than last time.
- 大卫 真的吗? 我从来觉得中文很难. Really? I've always found Chinese really hard.
- 高文 你比一年前更好了. 中文很难, 但是你学了很多. You're even better than a year ago. Chinese is hard, but you've learned a lot.
- 大卫 是的. 中文比英文难一些. True. Chinese is somewhat harder than English.
- 高文 是的. 但是你比上次好多了, 真的! True. But you're way better than last time — really!
Dialogue
北京和上海, 哪个漂亮? — Beijing and Shanghai — which is prettier?
- 大卫 高文, 北京和上海, 哪个漂亮? Gao Wen — Beijing and Shanghai, which is prettier?
- 高文 都漂亮. 我觉得上海比北京漂亮一点儿. Both are pretty. I think Shanghai is a little prettier than Beijing.
- 大卫 我也喜欢上海. 但是上海的人比北京多. I like Shanghai too. But Shanghai has more people than Beijing.
- 高文 北京有更多老地方. 上海比北京新一些. Beijing has more old places. Shanghai is somewhat newer than Beijing.
- 大卫 我都想去! I want to go to both!
Dialogue
比这儿安静多了 — Way quieter than here
- 大卫 我想找一个安静的地方学中文. I want to find a quiet place to study Chinese.
- 高文 这儿安静吗? Is here quiet?
- 大卫 这儿不太安静. 你家比这儿安静多了. Here's not very quiet. Your place is way quieter than here.
- 高文 那来我家学吧. Then come study at my place.
- 大卫 好, 谢谢你. 我去你那儿. Great, thanks. I'll head over.
Vocabulary
| 汉字 | Pinyin | POS | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 更 | gèng | adv. | even more — A 比 B 更 + adj (intensifier in a comparison) |
| 更加 | gèngjiā | adv. | even more (stronger / more formal form of 更) |
| 一点儿 | yìdiǎnr | n. | a little (small-degree complement after an adjective) |
| 多了 | duō le | n. | much more (large-degree complement: A 比 B + adj + 多了) |
| 一些 | yìxiē | det. | some; somewhat — also a degree complement: A 比 B + adj + 一些 |
| 难 | nán | adj. | difficult; hard |
| 漂亮 | piàoliang | adj. | pretty; beautiful |
| 安静 | ānjìng | adj. | quiet; peaceful |
New characters
| 汉字 | Pinyin | POS | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 英 | Yīng | (in 英文 = English (recall Bk1)) 英文 Yīngwén — English (recall Bk1) | |
| 漂 | piào / piāo | pretty (piào, in 漂亮); float (piāo) 漂亮 piàoliang — pretty; beautiful漂漂亮亮 piàopiào-liàngliàng — all pretty / spick-and-span (AABB reduplication of 漂亮) | |
| 亮 | liàng | bright; clear (in 漂亮) 漂亮 piàoliang — pretty; beautiful漂漂亮亮 piàopiào-liàngliàng — all pretty / spick-and-span (AABB reduplication of 漂亮)月亮 yuèliang — moon (the visible moon) | |
| 安 | ān | peace / safe (later) 安静 ānjìng — quiet; peaceful平安 píng\'ān — safe; peaceful (in 一路平安 — the standard journey blessing)心安 xīn ān — "peace of mind" (calligraphy inscription on the chair) | |
| 静 | jìng | quiet; still (in 安静) 安静 ānjìng — quiet; peaceful冷静 lěngjìng — calm; cool-headed | |
| 找 | zhǎo | look for; find 找到 zhǎo//dào — find — V+到 result complement (formal lesson Bk2)找工作 zhǎo gōngzuò — look for a job | |
| 加 | jiā | add; participate (in 参加) 更加 gèngjiā — even more (stronger / more formal form of 更)参加 cānjiā — participate; take part加班 jiā bān — work overtime (separable) |
Hanzi — writing & recognition
gèng even more (intensifier in 比 sentences) Writing
更 has two readings. As a verb gēng = "to change / replace" (古代 a watch-cycle was a 更, hence 三更 "third watch / midnight"). As an adverb gèng = "even more" — derived from the "another round" sense. This chapter uses gèng exclusively. Same character, different tone, different role.
yì easy; change Writing
Originally pictographic — possibly depicting the sun (sources differ). The "change / transformation" sense gives the Book of Changes (易经) its name. Modern uses include 交易 (transaction / exchange) and 易 itself meaning "simple / easy". 容易 (the standard "easy" compound) uses this character but is HSK 3.0 Level 3 vocab — formally taught in a Level 3 chapter, not this one. For this chapter we treat 易 as a recognition target you'll meet in compounds later.
nán difficult; hard Writing
The 隹 radical (short-tailed bird) gives an etymology rooted in "catching birds is hard" — extended to "difficult" generally. The semantic opposite of 易. In comparison sentences they sit on opposite sides of the same axis: A 比 B 难 / B 比 A 容易 (the latter using 容易, taught in a Level 3 chapter).
ān peaceful; safe (in 安静 = quiet) Writing
Associative compound: 宀 (roof / house) over 女 (woman). The traditional reading is "a woman in the house = peace at home" — extended to "peaceful / safe / quiet" generally. 安 reappears throughout: 平安 (safe / well, ch15), 安静 (quiet, this chapter), 不安 (uneasy, later levels).
piào / piāo pretty (piào, in 漂亮); float (piāo) Recognition
liàng bright; clear (in 漂亮) Recognition
xiē some; somewhat (revisit ch2; new comparative slot) Recognition
jìng quiet; still (in 安静) Recognition
Grammar
A 比 B 更 / 还 + 形容词 — "even more" A 比 B 更 / 还 + adjective — "even more than"
在"A 比 B + 形容词"的句型里, 把"更"或"还"放在形容词前面, 表示"比B还要 X"。"更"和"还"在这个用法里基本同义, "更"更常用。注意: 不能把"很 / 非常 / 真"用在比较句里——它们不是比较副词, 句子会不通。要表示"差多少", 不要用副词, 要用形容词后面的数量补语(下一课ch5学)。
Inside an A 比 B + adj sentence, place 更 or 还 before the adjective to mean "even more X than B". 更 and 还 are essentially synonyms here; 更 is more common. Pitfall: don't use 很 / 非常 / 真 in a 比 sentence — they aren't comparison adverbs and the result is ungrammatical (北京比上海很大 is wrong). To express "by how much", don't use a degree adverb at all — use a quantity complement AFTER the adjective (lesson 2 of this chapter).
- 你比一年前更好了. Nǐ bǐ yì nián qián gèng hǎo le. You're even better than a year ago.
- 那家更不安静. Nà jiā gèng bù ānjìng. That place is even less quiet (i.e. noisier).
- 这儿更安静. Zhèr gèng ānjìng. This place is even quieter.
- 北京有更多老地方. Běijīng yǒu gèng duō lǎo dìfang. Beijing has even more old places.
Grammar
A 比 B + 形容词 + 数量补语 — degrees of difference A 比 B + adjective + quantity complement — degrees of difference
把"差多少"放在形容词的后面, 不是前面。常用的数量补语有四种: (1) 一点儿 ("a little"); (2) 一些 ("somewhat"); (3) 多了 ("much more"); (4) 具体数字 + 量词 ("X 岁", "X 个" 等)。规则: 数量补语永远在形容词后面, 不能放前面("多了好"是错的, 要说"好多了")。
Place the "by how much" amount AFTER the adjective, not before. Four common forms: (1) 一点儿 — "a little" (small difference). (2) 一些 — "somewhat" (slightly larger than 一点儿, less precise). (3) 多了 — "much more" (a big difference). (4) Concrete number + measure word: 大三岁 ("3 years older"), 高十厘米 ("10cm taller"). Slot order is fixed: A 比 B + adj + complement. NEVER 多了好 / 一点儿好 — only 好多了 / 好一点儿. The complement is the *result* of the comparison, so it sits after the adjective it qualifies.
- 你的中文比上次好多了. Nǐ de Zhōngwén bǐ shàng cì hǎo duō le. Your Chinese is way better than last time.
- 上海比北京漂亮一点儿. Shànghǎi bǐ Běijīng piàoliang yìdiǎnr. Shanghai is a little prettier than Beijing.
- 你家比这儿安静多了. Nǐ jiā bǐ zhèr ānjìng duō le. Your place is way quieter than here.
- 中文比英文难一些. Zhōngwén bǐ Yīngwén nán yìxiē. Chinese is somewhat harder than English.
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