You already know how to ask which of two things someone prefers. That's great, but do you know how to express your own opinions? You will need to make affirmative comparisons such as "my new job is much better than my last one." Your opinion is important and this article provides the Japanese you need to express it. We wrote this Beginner Japanese article to teach you how to make affirmative comparisons. This is an important part of expressing your opinion and telling people what you like best. Unlock the secrets to comparing two things, along with chotto and zutto, which mean "a little" and "by far." These words help you express how much you prefer something. In addition, you'll find easy instructions on the various Japanese sentence structures we use to compare two things. You might just say, "I like this Beginner Japanese article the best!"

Vocabulary: In this article, you'll learn the following words and phrases:

kibun - "feeling"

okage-sama de - "thank you, fortunately"

demo - "but, however"

shimpai - "worry, concern" (-na ending adjective)

danna - "husband"

petto - "pet"

taiin - "leaving hospital"

nasakenai - "shameful, pathetic" (-i ending adjective)

Grammar: In this article, you'll learn the following words and phrases:

Useful Vocabulary and Phrases

taiin

Taiin is a noun that means "leaving the hospital." Taiin suru is a verb that means "to be discharged from the hospital." The opposite word is nyuuin, which means "hospitalization."

Sentence from Today's Dialogue

Raishuu taiin shitemo ii desu yo.

"You can leave the hospital next week."

For more details on the usage of temo ii, please see Beginner Season 4, Article 15, "Cans and Can'ts: Asking for and Giving Permission."

Okage-sama de.

Okage means "support" or "help from somebody." We use the phrase okage-sama de to express one's general gratitude toward the listener (or a party being spoken of).

Example:

Genki desu ka. "How are you doing?"
Okage-sama de. "Thanks to you.(I'm doing well.)"

Today's Target Phrase: Petto wa Raizoo-san yori kawaii desu.

The focus of today's article is sentences that compare two quantities or qualities. We covered question and answer sentences in the previous article. In this article, we explain comparative affirmative sentences.

Formation

[A] wa [B] yori [adjective] desu.
"[A] is more [adjective] than [B]."
[B] yori means "more than [B]" or "compared with [B]."
[Subject] %2B wa / [Comparing object] %2B yori / [Adjective] %2B desu. Kyoo wa / kinoo yori / atsui desu. Inu wa / neko yori / kawaii desu. Densha wa / basu yori / benri desu. Tanaka-san wa / Suzuki-san yori / majime desu. Tanaka-san wa / Suzuki-san yori / se ga takai desu.

Here are a few more helpful definitions:

neko "cat"
majime "serious"
se ga takai "tall"

Zutto and Chotto

In comparative sentences, we often add adverbs in front of adjectives to express degree.

zutto "by far"
chotto "a little"

See the examples below:

Tanaka-san wa Suzuki-san yori zutto hansamu desu. "Mr. Tanaka is way more handsome than Mr. Suzuki."
Tanaka-san wa Suzuki-san yori chotto hansamu desu. "Mr. Tanaka is a little more handsome than Mr. Suzuki."

Review Comparative Questions

[A] to [B] to dochira no hoo ga [adjective] desu ka.
"Which alternative is more [adjective], [A] or [B]?"
Answer: [A] no hoo ga [adjective] desu.
"[A] is more [adjective].
Example:

Question: Shichi-gatsu to hachi-gatsu to dochira no hoo ga atsui desu ka.
Answer: Hachi-gatsu no hoo ga atsui desu.

Practice

Write your opinion using the "[A] wa [B] yori [adjective] desu" sentence structure and given vocabulary.

For Example: Vocabulary: niku "meat" yasai "vegetable" oishii "tasty"

Niku wa yasai yori oishii desu. Yasai wa niku yori oishii desu.

(Katakana, Kanji, muzukashii); Muzukashii means "difficult."
(watashi no kuni, nihon, ookii); Watashi no kuni means "my country."
(watashi no machi, Tokyo, benri); Machi means "town, city."

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