4.15 Comparison — more, less, and most — Epoché
What you will be able to do Say that one thing is more something than another, in either word order. Say which of two you prefer, and answer a question that offers a choice. Pick the best, cheapest or most beautiful of any number of things. Give advice with the same construction, in the positive and the negative. Prerequisites : lesson 4.14 — the joining form, whose past form the advice construction needs. English changes the adjective to compare: big becomes bigger and biggest , or takes more and most in front. Japanese changes nothing. The adjective in a comparison is the same word it was on its own, and what marks the comparison is a particle after the thing compared against. That is good news for producing the language and bad news for hearing it. There is no ending to catch, so if you miss the particle you will hear a plain statement where a comparison was meant. The particles are short. Listen for them. More than Put より after the thing being compared against, and leave everything else alone: Japanese English このもんだいはやさしい This problem is easy. このもんだいはそれよりやさしい This problem is easier than that one. One word added, nothing changed. The particle means roughly starting from and is the same word used for from in expressions of origin, which is worth knowing because it explains the word order: the standard of comparison comes first, and what you are saying about it comes after. The standard can be a whole clause. あなたがおもっているよりむずかしい — it is more difficult than you think — puts an entire clause in front of the particle. English does the same thing with than , so this one transfers directly. Adding も after the particle strengthens it, as in あのいえはこれよりもずっとよい below, and ずっと before the adjective means much or far : much better, far cheaper. Which of the two The other half of a comparison is a phrase meaning the side of , used to pick one of two: こっちのほうがやすい , this one is cheaper. Literally this one's side is cheap . The two halves combine freely, and a full comparison usually has both: こっちのほうがあっちのよりやすいよ — this one is cheaper than that one , with the preferred thing marked by the side-phrase and the standard marked by the particle from the last section. Either half may be dropped when the context makes it obvious, and in speech one usually is. This is the answer to a choice question. Asked whether you want tea or coffee, the Japanese answer is not the bare noun but the noun with the side-phrase: the tea side is good . It sounds elaborate written out in English and is completely ordinary in Japanese, and an English speaker who answers with the bare noun sounds abrupt. The word behind the phrase means direction or side, and you will meet it on its own with that meaning: the front, the south, the business side of things. The best of several For three or more, put いちばん in front of the adjective. It is an ordinary adverb and nothing else changes: これがいちばんいい , this is best; このはながいちばんきれいだ , this flower is the most beautiful. The word literally means number one , and it is the same word used for first place, the first train and the top of a list. There is no separate superlative in the grammar at all — this is a vocabulary item doing the work that English does with an ending. The field of comparison is marked with a particle. To say the best in the class you put the class first with the particle meaning in or among , and then the superlative. English uses in , of or among depending on the noun; Japanese uses one word. Notice いちばんやすいのにするよ from the sentences below: I will take the cheapest one . The thing being chosen is left out entirely and replaced by a pronoun meaning one , exactly as in English. Japanese leaves out more than English does, but here they agree. Advice with the same word The side-phrase plus the word for good gives advice: もういえにかえったほうがいいよ , you had better go home. The verb in front of it is in the past plain form, which is the form you learned to make in 4.14, and the pastness has nothing to do with time — it is simply the form the construction takes. The negative is the exception: it uses the plain negative , not a past. このほんはよまないほうがいいですよ , you had better not read this book. So the positive is past and the negative is present, which no rule explains and which has to be learned as a pair. It is stronger than the English. You had better in English is mild advice; the Japanese carries a suggestion that the alternative is a bad idea, and used upwards it is presumptuous. Between friends and downwards it is everyday, and it is what a doctor, a teacher or a shop assistant will say to you. How English does it English inflects; Japanese does not. Cheap, cheaper, cheapest is three forms of one word, and English speakers produce them without thought. Japanese has one form and two extra words, which is easier to produce — you never have to decide between -er and more — and harder to hear, because the marker is a separate short word rather than a syllable welded to the end of the adjective you were already listening to. The word order is reversed. English says bigger than yours : the adjective, then the standard. Japanese says than yours, bigger . In a long sentence this means the standard of comparison arrives before you know what is being compared, and you have to hold it. ぼくののほうが、きみのよりおおきい from the sentences below has both orders in one line and repays reading twice. English has no equivalent of the side-phrase. Answering a choice question with the tea side is good has no English counterpart at all; English simply names the thing. This is one of the few places where Japanese is wordier than English for no reason of politeness, and leaving it out is one of the most recognisable learner errors. Both languages use comparison for advice, in opposite directions. English says you had better — a comparative of well — and means something fairly mild. Japanese uses the same shape and means something firmer. Where an English speaker would say you might want to , Japanese uses a softer construction altogether, w