Making Negative Comparisons is one of the purposes of 不比 and 没有 in Chinese Grammar.
In our last post, we explained how to use 比 to make comparisons. In today’s article, we’ll be showing you how to make negative comparisons instead. Being able to make comparisons and correctly convey information will allow you to expand your comprehension capabilities. We’ve also provided sentence structures and example sentences so you can practice in your own time.
Negative Comparisons with 不比
Bubi is mainly used to express subtle, negative comparisons. Rather than showing that B is worse than A, Bubi is used to show that A is not better than be B. It essentially means “there is no comparison”. An easy way to remember this is to look at the characters individually; Bu negates Bi. The sentence structure for using Bubi is [Noun 1 + 不比 + Noun 2 + Adjective]. Here are some example sentences:
他的伙食不比我的强。
Tā de huǒshí bùbǐ wǒ de qiáng.
His diet is by no means better than mine.
他并不比你年长。
tā bìngbùbĭ nĭ niáncháng
He is no older than you.
她不比我更正当。
tā bù bĭ wŏ gèng zhèngdāng
She has no more right to the throne than I
他并不比昨天好。
tā bìngbùbĭ zuótiān hăo
He is no better than he was yesterday.
Negative comparisons with 没有
Most of you learning Chinese will be familiar with Meiyou; It means “not have”. However, another important function of Meiyou is for expressing negative comparisons. It is similar to saying “not as”, which would make it the opposite of Bi. The basic sentence structure is: [Noun 1 + 没有 + Noun 2 + Adjective]. Here are some example sentences:
你 没有 我 高
Nǐ méiyǒu wǒ gāo
You’re not as tall as me.
他没有你努力。
Tā méiyǒu nǐ nǔlì.
He’s not as hard-working as you.
我的房子没有你的大。
Wǒ de fángzǐ méiyǒu nǐ de dà.
My house isn’t as big as yours.
Using the examples provided see if you can construct your own sentences! If you have a language partner, see if you can use these sentence structures in your speech. Once you familiarise yourself with these grammatical concepts, you’ll start to notice them all the time.
Remember, if you have any questions about Chinese language and culture make sure to find us on Quora. Remember, another way to keep your Chinese current is by making sure the content you consume is current! So be sure to read all the latest Chinese news articles on The Chairman’s Bao.
