Japanese Comparison: より, …の方が, and …で一番

Last time, you learned how to express quotations and definitions, e.g. “ボブは日に本ほん語ごが上手うまいと聞きいた (I heard that Bob is good at Japanese).” However, if you would like to say “I heard that Bob speaks Japanese better than John,” what should you do? In this lesson, you will learn how to express comparison.

Explanation for How to Express Comparison in Japanese

This is actually an easy topic when learning Japanese. In English, you express comparison by conjugating adjectives (like “easier”) or placing “more” before adjectives. In Japanese, you don’t have to conjugate anything. We express comparison by adding a few key words. Let’s check how it works.

When Comparing Two Items

は…より（も）

This is a basic sentence pattern. You first set a topic by using the particle は, then you place a target of comparison with より, which you can roughly consider as “than” in English. The order of the より part is sometimes changes, but the meaning remains the same. In the above example, we’ve used adjectives, but you can also use other parts of speech if they have degree.

People sometimes attach も to より, but the meaning won’t change.

When you use the negative form, you have to use ほど instead of より.

However, if there is a clear distinction, you should use affirmative sentences with the antonyms.

…の方ほうが…より（も）

If you use the particle が, you have to place の方ほう after nouns. When you use adjectives, you can just place 方ほう after i-adjectives and な方ほう after na-adjectives. The example above plainly compares the ability between Bob and John. By contrast, if you use the topic particle は, it means to compare them while treating Bob as a basis.

The difference between the two sentence patterns will appear in two situations. The first is to respond to wh-questions. For reference, when you ask, “Who is younger, Bob or John?” you have two options: ボブとジョンでは which is expressed by the combined particle (Range and Topic) and ボブとジョンの which is expressed by the particle の (Explanation). The complete sentences are below.

When it comes to the responses, の方ほうが…より is more suitable than は…より because the particle が has the function to identify something. Be careful; the …より part is often omitted.

The second situation is to make negative sentences. With the sentence pattern: の方ほうが…より, negative sentences don’t sound very natural. You should use affirmative sentences. The following examples express the same thing, but the one below sounds more natural.

…と同おなじくらい

This sentence pattern can express that there is not a difference between two items. …と同おなじくらい can roughly be translated “A is as _____ as B.”

When Comparing Three Items or More

You can roughly consider this sentence pattern (の中)で一番 as “-est” or “most” in English. Grammatically speaking, の中なか should be omitted when used with nouns which indicate locations and shouldn’t be omitted when used with nouns which indicate a number or an amount. However, practically speaking, people use both of them in either situation.

If you replace 一番いちばん with 最もっとも, your speech sounds more formal.

Comparison with Numerals and Adverbs

This expression is applicable when comparing two items. By placing numerals or adverbs just before predicates, you can express comparison in detail.

Advanced Topic: Three Differences in Nuance

Suppose that Sushi costs $101 and Tempura costs $100. We believe that the prices are really high. Then, we can say that there are three different points of view.

1. Plainly compare the two items without considering the high prices.
2. Although both of them are expensive, Sushi is more expensive.
3. Although both of them are not cheap, Tempura is cheaper.

The reason we’ve categorized them in this way is because you have to use different adverbs depending on the point of view. The following adverbs are typical ones for the usages.

1. 寿司すしは天てんぷらより少すこし高たかい。=> No indication
2. 寿司すしは天てんぷらより もっと・さらに 高たかい。=> Indicates both are expensive
3. 天てんぷらは寿司すしよりまだ安やすい。 => Indicates both are not cheap

Summary

1. は…より（も） compares two items while treating one of them as a basis.
2. の方ほうが…より（も） compares two items without a basis.
3. …と同おなじくらい expresses A is as _____ as B.
4. …（の中なか）で一番いちばん expresses "-est" or "most."

Although we have explained how to express comparison so far, there is actually no new grammar for you. If you know the usage of Japanese adverbs and numerals, our explanation should come easily to you. Now, you know how Japanese comparison works. Next, you will learn expressions related to numbers and amounts like “only” and “too much.”