I couldn't get the expression below.
彼女は英語を話すのが得意で、兄に勝るとも劣らぬくらいだ。
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what have you done to understand this sentence? Give us a little more context, and we will be able to better cater an answer for your needs.– ajsmartCommented Jun 6, 2017 at 23:37
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勝るとも劣らない is a fixed expression. What does your dictionary say? ejje.weblio.jp/content/…– chocolate ♦Commented Jun 7, 2017 at 0:05
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Aren't there typos in" 勝るとも劣らぬくらいだ"?– TommyCommented Jun 7, 2017 at 0:19
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1@Tommy タイポですか？どこも間違ってないと思いますけど。– chocolate ♦Commented Jun 7, 2017 at 0:24
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@Chocolate Sorry! I didn't read well! lol It's actually 劣らぬ - くらい - だ. My bad! :)– TommyCommented Jun 7, 2017 at 0:35
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1 Answer
(～に)勝るとも劣らない is a fixed expression meaning "be in no way inferior to; not at all inferior to; rival or surpass; compare favorably (with)" (Source)
まさる【勝る(優る)】...
「勝るとも劣らない（＝同等以上だ）」
（明鏡国語辞典）
勝(まさ)るとも劣(おと)ら◦ない
それ以上ではあっても劣っていることはない。互角またはそれ以上である。 （デジタル大辞泉）
As you know, 劣らぬ is a literary way of saying 劣らない. (The ぬ originally is the attributive form of the archaic negative auxiliary ず)
What does とも mean here?
The ～とも* is a conjunctive particle (接続助詞) meaning 「（たとえ）～ても」"(even) if~~". (勝るとも劣らない = 勝ることはあっても劣ることはない)
*とも sounds relatively archaic, and attaches to the terminal form/終止形 of verbs in 文語, the imperfective form/未然形 of verbs + the auxiliary う・よう in 口語, and the continuative form/連用形 of i-adjectives (Source: 明鏡国語辞典).
Example from Shogakukan's Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary:
これは耐久性ではあちらのに勝るとも劣りません。
This is no less durable than that.
answered Jun 7, 2017 at 1:14
