Chinese For Dummies (59 page)

If you just want to say that something is better than something else, or more something (not necessarily the best), you use the word
gèng
更
(guhng) before an adjective. You can consider these the equivalent of the suffix
-er.
Another word that has the meaning of
more
or
-er
is
yìdiǎn
一点
(
一點
) (ee-dyan). Although the term
gèng
comes before an adjective, the term
yìdiǎn
must appear after the adjective. Instead of saying
gèng kuài
更快
(gung kwye) (
faster
), for example, you'd say
kuài yìdiǎn
快一点
(
快一點
) (kwye ee-dyan) to mean
faster.

Here are some examples:

gèng cōngmíng
更聪明
(
更聰明
)
(guhng tsoong-meeng) (
smarter
)

gèng hǎo
更好
(guhng how) (
better
)

gèng guì
更贵
(
更貴
)
(guhng gway) (
more expensive
)

gèng piányì
更便宜
(gung pyan-yee) (
cheaper
)

piányī yìdiǎn
便宜一点
(
便宜一點
) (pyan-yee ee-dyan) (
cheaper
)

gèng kuài
更快
(guhng kwye) (
faster
)

gèng màn
更慢
(guhng mahn) (
slower
)

duǎn yìdiǎn
短一点
(
短一點
) (dwahn ee-dyan) (
shorter
)

cháng yìdiǎn
长一点
(
長一點
) (chahng ee-dyan) (
longer
)

xiǎo yìdiǎn
小一点
(
小一點
) (shyaow ee-dyan) (
smaller
)

dà yìdiǎn
大一点
(
大一點
)
(dah ee-dyan) (
larger
)

Comparing two items

The simplest way to compare two items is by using the
coverb
(the part of speech akin to a preposition)
bǐ
比
(bee) (
compared with
) between the two things you're comparing, followed by an adjective. If you say
A
bǐ
B
hǎo
A
比
B
好
(A bee B how) you're saying
A is better than B.

Here are some ways to make comparisons with
bǐ:

Hóngde bǐ huángde hǎo.
红的比黄的好
. (
紅的比黃的好
. (hoong-duh bee hwahng-duh how.) (
The red one is better than the yellow one.
)

Tā bǐ wǒ lǎo.
她比我老
. (tah bee waw laow.)
(
She's older than me.
)

Zhèige wūzi bǐ nèige dà.
这个屋子比那个大
. (
這個屋子比那個大
.) (jay-guh woo-dzuh bee nay-guh dah.) (
This room is bigger than that one.
)

One way to convey similarity between two things is to use the coverbs
gēn
跟
(gun)
or
hé
和
(huh)
between the two things being compared, followed by the word
yíyàng
一样
(
一樣
) (ee-yahng) (
the same
) and then the adjective. So if you say
A
gēn
B
yíyàng dà
A
跟
B
一样大
(A
跟
B
一樣大
) (A gun B ee-yahng dah), you're saying that A and B are equally large or are as big as each other. You can also just say
A gēn
B
yíyàng.,
meaning
A and B are the same.
Here are some other things you can say with this sentence pattern:

Gēge hé dìdi yíyàng gāo.
哥哥和弟弟一样高
. (
哥哥和弟弟一樣高
.) (guh-guh huh dee-dee ee-yahng gaow.) (
My older brother is as tall as my younger brother.
)

Māo gēn gǒu yíyàng tiáopí.
猫跟狗一样调皮
. (
貓跟狗一樣調皮
.) (maow gun go ee-yahng tyaow-pee.) (
Cats are just as naughty as dogs.
)

Wǒ gēn nǐ yíyàng dà.
我跟你一样大
. (
我跟你一樣大
.)
(waw gun nee ee-yahng dah.) (
You and I are the same age.
)

So what if you want to make a negative comparison, such as
I'm not as tall as him?
For that, you have to use the following sentence pattern:
A
méiyǒu
B
nèmme
(adjective).
A
没有
B
那么
(
那麽
) (adjective). (A mayo B nuh muh [adjective].) (
A isn't as [adjective] as B.
). You can see this pattern in action in the following sentences:

Shāyú méiyǒu jīnyú nèmme kě'ài.
鲨鱼没有金鱼那么可爱
. (
鯊魚沒有金魚那麼可愛
.) (shah-yew mayo jeen-yew nummuh kuh-eye.) (
Sharks aren't as cute as goldfish.
)

Yīngwén méiyǒu Zhōngwén nèmme nán.
英文没有中文那么难
. (
英文沒有中文那麽難
.) (eeng-one mayo joong-one nummuh nahn.) (
English isn't as difficult as Chinese.
)

Māo de wěiba méiyǒu tùzi de wěiba nèmme cū.
猫的尾巴没有兔子的尾巴那么粗
. (
猫的尾巴没有兔子的尾巴那么粗
.) (maow duh way-bah mayo too-dzuh duh way-bah nummuh tsoo.) (
Cats' tails aren't as thick as the tails of rabbits.
)

Talkin' the Talk

Olivia and Lěiléi go shopping and check out some traditional Chinese women's dresses known as
qípáo
(chee-paow). Those are the ankle-length dresses with high necks and a high slit up the side of one leg.

Olivia:

Zhèi jiàn qípáo zěnmeyàng?

jay jyan chee-paow dzummuh-yahng?

What do you think of this traditional Chinese dress?

Lěiléi:

Wǒ juéde hěn hǎo.

waw jweh-duh hun how.

I think it looks great.

Olivia:

Zhēnde ma?

jun-duh mah?

Really?

Lěiléi:

Zhēnde. Kěshì jīnsède méiyǒu hóngde nèmme piàoliàng.

jun-duh. kuh-shir jeen-suh-duh mayo hoong-duh nummuh pyaow-lyahng.

Reallly. But the gold one isn't as pretty as the red one.

Olivia:

Jīnsède hé hóngde yíyàng guì ma?

jeen-suh-duh huh hoong-duh ee-yahng gway mah?

Are the gold one and the red one the same price?

Lěiléi:

Méiyǒu. Jīnsède bǐ hóngde piányi.

mayo. jeen-suh-duh bee hoong duh pyan-yee.

No. The gold one is less expensive than the red one.

Olivia:

Nà, wǒ jiù mǎi jīnsède.

nah, waw jyoe my jeen-suh-duh.

In that case, I'll buy the gold one.

You can use two classifiers when it comes to clothing:
jiàn
and
tiáo.
Classifiers
are the words used between a number or the words
this
or
that
and the clothing you're talking about. You use
jiàn
when you're talking about clothing worn on the upper part of the body and
tiáo
for clothes worn on the lower part. So you say
yíjiàn chènshān
一件衬衫
(
一件襯衫
) (ee-jyan chun-shahn) (
one shirt
) or
sāntiáo kùzi
三条裤子
(
三條褲子
) (sahn-tyaow koo-dzuh) (
three pairs of pants
).

What are you wearing? Chuān versus dài

Dài
戴
(dye) and
chuān
ç©¿
(chwan) both mean
to wear,
but they're used for different types of things you put on your body. In English, you can say you're wearing everything from hats to socks to skirts to even a necklace. In Chinese, though, you can only
dài
things like
màozi
帽子
(maow-dzuh) (
hats
),
yǎnjìng
眼镜
(
鏡
) (yan-jeeng) (
glasses
), and
xiézi
鞋子
(shyeh-dzuh) (
shoes
) — in other words, articles more akin to accessories than to actual clothing. However, you
chuān
things like
qúnzi
裙子
(chewn-dzuh) (
skirts
) and
dàyī
大衣
(dah-ee) (
coats
).

Here are some things you can
chuān:

bèixīn
背心
(bay-sheen) (
vest
)