Questions tagged [comparative-constructions]
The comparative-constructions tag has no usage guidance.
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To what extent can “ほうが” distribute?
Phrases with “ほうが” can clearly be used as a subject, including a “major subject”, as in:
私のほうが速い。
日本のほうが公共交通は効率的。
They can also clearly be used as a nominative object, as in:
私はあなたのほうが好き。
I've ...
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Is verb + と同じくらい grammatical
ロンがハリーに興味を持ったと同じぐらい、ハリーもロンに関心を持った。
Harry was interested in Ron just as much as Ron was interested in Harry.
Is it grammatical to have と同じぐらい after a verb? I would have expected to see a nominaliser (...
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How to say "He wants it less spicy" in Japanese
Whats the best way to tell someone, that a person wants something less spicy? あまり辛くほしくない would be a way to say it differently, but I'm looking for "less...".
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男子より女子の方がロマンチックよ。
The sentence
男子より女子の方がロマンチックよ。
apparently translates to
Girls are more romantic than boys.
But I'm having trouble parsing this. First off, where is the sentence's verb? Second, the literal ...
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～ほど～ない vs ～より～ない
In reading this question, it's occurred to me that I don't know the difference between the following constructions:
自転車に乗るのは思ったより易しくない
自転車に乗るのは思ったほど易しくない
Is the difference really just as the literal ...
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Implicit comparison with ほど
Does Japanese have a way to do an implicit comparison using ほど or より? For instance,
Since they are cold, these cookies aren't as good.
Here, we don't specify as good as what? usual? other cookies? ...
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Question about the と particle in comparative constructs
I've been making my way through the book Elementary Japanese Volume 1 and in the chapter on comparatives it introduced this construction:
AとBとでは、どちらの方がXですか。Between A and B, which one is X-er?
AとBとでは、...
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Usage of てくる in Motion of Object
I have a doubt in regard to the use of てくる, while marking motion of an object.
Among other things, てくる can be used to mark motion of an object, and the fact that you received that motion.
E.g. ...
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Difference in the 4 sentence constructions
I have a sentence that, I was trying to frame, however, I cannot decide between ね, よ and だろう/でしょう, which ending particle that I should use.
The context is: Aさんのお母さんがほうれん草を作った、でも、Aさんがほうれん草が好きじゃない. そして, ...
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Difference between まで and に when using a Number counter
i wanted to know the difference in nuance between まで and に, when used to represent the number counter, in the following 2 sentences.
四十までアパートに入れます. (Means upto 40 people can enter the apartment)
Vs.
...
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Why usage of た and not ている in the following usage
I was watching a Japanese Drama, and I have questions regarding the usage of Past tense (た) instead of Present Perfect (ている) in the following sentence.
In this Drama a person was looking for someone ...
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Difference between using Noun + Particle + の and Similar Construction
I was going through the usage of Noun Modifiers with Particle の, and I came across a Comment in Maggie Sensei's blog stating for the difference between the following constructions:
Noun + Particle + ...
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Usage of ている in Punctual Verbs in Japanese and the Concept of Present Perfect in English
Answer to the first question has been given by ナルトさん. But any new answers or thoughts or suggestions are really appreciated!!
Answer to the second question can be extended, as only a touchstone was ...
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Usage of で and までに in certain verbs
Use of Particle
で particle, among other uses, is used to indicate the termination of something, wherein it acts like; "at; on, in". E.g. 大学は10月で終わる (The College will end in October), 2nd E.g....
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Can we use ために instead of で
As we know, で is used for, referring to the things that we use as an instrument/means to perform an act.
So, my question is can we use "ために...を使う" instead of "で" to highlight that ...
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Confusion between ~に似てる ~と似てる
From https://www.imabi.net/theparticleto.htm,
と may mark a subject being compared. As for 似る, ～に似る and ～と似る are possible but slightly different. と in this case marks one side of a mutual relation(...
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Construction and Meaning of とき in the following cases
I was studying about とき. I came to know that とき means "when" If used in following sentences:
Format: S1ときS2 (as per my own inference) (Please correct me if I am wrong)
S1- Adj(both i and na)...
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Will the meaning/nuance change in the following construction?
I was going through some sentences and I found that the word かぜ was used before 私は and in one after 私は.
E.g.
私はなぜ風邪をひいているの
なぜ私は風邪をひいているの
So, my question is; Is there a difference between the two?
...
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じゃまた translates as 'see you later' , can anyone please explain 'jya' and it's meaning and uses? [duplicate]
I am very interested in finding out what じゃ means in different contexts. Is it a particle, adjective, marker? If you could provide different uses and/or examples or even refer me to somewhere I can ...
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Saying 'In my opinion, the internet has more good points than bad points'. [Comparative]
To say 'In my opinion, the internet has more good points than bad points', would the following phrase be correct;
「僕のいけんでインタネットは悪い点よりもっといい点があります。」
Would this phrase be correct? Or would it make more ...
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Clarification on comparative constructions is needed
Here's a sentence:
シベリアより東の地域はシベリアの中部ほど寒くないです。
I understand what it says but I don't understand why 「より」 is used right after 「シベリア」, and why the word order is not like this:
...
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AはBと同じくらい... comparative construction
From this post I learned that I can change subject marker が with を (Aの方がB・・・） and it will be completely fine, but can I do so with 「AはBと同じくらいC」 construction?
For example, I need to say "He is as ...
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Word order in a comparative sentence
The original sentence was interrogative and used「AはBよりC」construction in it
九州では東京よりさくらが早くさきますか。
I could have written something, using simpler constructions but I decided to use the construction ...
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A verb ちがう and its indicators
I came across a task in which I had to complete different sentences by putting correct case indicators. Everything seemed to be fine until I reached a sentence which made me think a lot about what ...
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Difference between N1はN2より＋Adj and N1よりN2のほうが+Adj
I'm a little stuck at this because I don't really get the difference. What's the difference between:
私は田中さんより若いです
田中さんより私のほうが若いです
Am I saying the same thing but in two different ways?
Thanks in ...
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About the construction 大好きな彼女
This construction felt very weird to me:
大好きな彼女
I saw it here: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3vupgr
I thought that normally, you would construct that type of sentence like this:
彼女を大好きな
...
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How do I express "I'm better at doing X than Y"
How would I form the phrase, "I'm better at understanding (spoken) Japanese than speaking it," both casually and politely?
Like this?:
私は日本語｛にほんご｝を聞いて｛きいて｝分かる｛わかる｝のほうが話す｛はなす｝のよりいいです。
...
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How to properly denote a nuance between comparing choices [closed]
My question relates to how to create the nuance between choosing two or more methods and knowing which should be the preferred or more suitable choice.
E.g.
"How did you know whether to do/use 'A' ...
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長くしました: Make long or make longer?
Regarding panda viewing times at Ueno zoo:
動物園はたくさんの人に見てもらうために、シャンシャンを見ることができる時間を２時間半長くしました。
The zoo has made the time when you can see the panda two and a half hours long(er) so that lots of ...
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How do you use comparatives for Japanese adjectives?
I am currently writing a section about the Japanese writing system. I have previously stated that Japanese was originally written completely in Kanji. However, people found it very difficult.
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Can the ~ほうが~より pattern be used with both an い adjective and a な adjective?
In my grammar reference book the pattern is layed out like this:
[高い/高かった] ＋ ほうが ＋ いAdjective ＋ より...
[静かな/静かだった] ＋ ほうが ＋ なAdjective ＋ より...
This indicates to me that I could say, for example,
...
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How to say "I think studying English is easier for Brazilians than for Japanese"
I wanna say "I think that for Brazilians, studying English is easier than it is for Japanese"
I know how to make simple comparisons like
お寿司の価格の方がラーメンより高い
but I am having trouble coming up with ...
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Meaning of 味を増した
What is the meaning of 味を増した in the following sentence? Context: Two boxers meet after a long time, but Boxer A isn't in a good mood because is worried about his imminent qualifying match. So Boxer B ...
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How to express a comparison between two elements in two different fields
It can seem a trivial question but I am quite struggling. I would like to translate a sentence form like this one:
[noun1] is more/less [adjective1] than [noun2] is [adjective2].
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More complex comparisons with より
The use of より/のほうが for comparisons seems straightforward when comparing like with like (e.g. "私の方が彼より英語が上手く話せる"). But I have trouble finding a non-clumsy way to express more complex comparisons, e.g. ...
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Questions about comparatives
I have two questions that I think are quite related regarding the interpretation of comparatives.
1. Is it necessary to include a より or a 方 expression to convey a comparative?
Suppose you are having a ...
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noun + verb + comparative degree + than I thought
What are the Japanese constructions to express the following English formula?
noun + verb + comparative degree + than I thought
E.g.
Today is colder than I thought.
This works better than I ...
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Use of 方 (かた or ほう?) in このぺーパーの方が圧倒的に多いので何言ってるのか分からない方も多いと思いますが
Context (although probably not relevant): Last sentence of the preface to a short manga sidestory. The rest of the preface talks about how the mangaka ordered rubber coasters and they didn't turn out ...
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Understanding ”どっちがいい？”
Some questions...
Does ”どっちがいい？” literally mean "which one is better?", or does it literally mean "which one is good?" but sometimes you're supposed to guess the actual meaning from the context?
Can ...
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How to make comparisons like "the wider the river the easier to navigate"?
How to make comparisons like "the wider the river the easier to navigate"?
I mean, how to say that because something is this way, something else is that other way?
Thank you very much.
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Exact nuance between 方が、たら、えば and テ形 in this sentence
I would like to know the exact nuance between all these forms in these example sentences :
そうした方がもっと可愛くなる。 : This one feels like she would become cuter if she did that (instead of something else)
...
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Verbal short form の for expressing the idea of doing a verb ＋ のほうが / より
Okay so the のほうが / より combo is to my understanding used to say something is more than or less than in Japanese and if you add の to the short form version of a verb it the expresses the idea of doing ...
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A more colloquial way of comparing A and B than the A のほうがBよりXです pattern?
I want to say that 'A is cheaper than B'.
Genki, the book, would formally suggest:
A のほうがBよりやすいです.
What would be a more colloquial way to say this?
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I think it's incorrect: 小さいのより大きい方がいいです。 is it?
Somewhere I encountered the following example sentence:
小{ちい}さいのより大{おお}きい方{ほう}がいいです。
It's supposed to mean "The big (one) is better than the small (one)." If I understand correctly, より should ...
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Meaning of 日本に来られたらより理解できる
I wrote:
１４、１５歳だった時、僕は飛ぶことができる車を作ってみたくなったので、いろいろな自動車メーカーに興味を持った。フォルクスワーゲンとかHONDAとかビュイックとかBMWとか。「どこのメーカーのために飛べる車を作ればいいかな」と思って、僕の父に「好きな自動車メーカーは？」と聞いた。父の答えは「もちろん、TOYOTA。このメーカーの車はとても頑丈で長持ちするからね」。それで、...
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The use of particle の in positive and negative comparisons
Colour me a little confused.
1) Say I'm comparing two objects:
Q: テレビと本と、どちらが好きですか？
A: テレビより、本のほうが好きです。
2) Then say I'm comparing two actions:
Q: テレビを見るのと、本を読むのと、どちらが好きですか？
A: ...
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When to use ＸはＹより vs ＸとＹとどちらが……？
If I wanted to ask, Which is faster the red car or the blue car? I could phrase it as:
赤い｛あかい｝車｛くるま｝は青い｛あおい｝車より速い｛はやい｝ですか？
or
赤い｛あかい｝車｛くるま｝と青い｛あおい｝車とどちらが速い｛はやい｝ですか？
But when would I use 1 (...
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This usage of 方 in 何にもできねえ方がどんだけ平和だろうと思うぜ
So there's a character in a manga that says this:
空想だけで何でもできちゃう奴を見ちまうと 何にもできねえ方がどんだけ平和だろうと思うぜ (Link to source)
Now the 方 in the text has the furigana of ほう. So if I'm not mistaken that means "...
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How is の方 used in それより公安の方は?
A: [金]{かね}は？
B: いつもの[通]{とお}りだ。それより[公安]{こうあん}の[方]{ほう}は？
A: 心配するな。 私がついている。
A: The money?
B: Planned as always. Aside from that, public safety の方は？
A: Don't worry. We're with you.
I'm not ...
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How can I express that X is as big/small/fast/... as Y?
I would like to know how to express that something is equal in some aspect to another thing (or person, if that makes a difference), as you would express in English by saying:
X is as (adjective) as Y
...
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