In Chinese, there is another way to make comparisons. You can
use 没有 (méiyǒu) to express that something is "not
as" adjective as something else. (Yes, that's the same 没有
(méiyǒu) that means "not have," used here in a different way.)
Basic Usage
As well as with 比 (bǐ), you can also use 没有 (méiyǒu) to make
basic comparisons. You could think of 没有 (méiyǒu) as the opposite
of 比 (bǐ) - it works in the same way, but rather than expressing
"more... than..." it expresses "not as... as...":
Noun 1 + 没有 + Noun 2 + Adj.
In this structure, the noun that's placed first is less
"adjective" than the second noun, making 没有 (méiyǒu) the
opposite of 比 (bǐ)
for comparison purposes. So in the sentence:
- 小张 没有 小李 高 。 Xiǎo Zhāng
méiyǒu Xiǎo Lǐ gāo.Xiao Zhang
is not as tall as Xiao Li.
小李 (Xiǎo Lǐ) is taller. The same situation could be described
as:
- 小李 没有 小张 矮 。 Xiǎo Lǐ
méiyǒu Xiǎo Zhāng ǎi.Xiao Li is
not as short as Xiao Zhang.
Examples
- 这 个 地方 没有 上海 好玩。 Zhège dìfang
méiyǒu Shànghǎi hǎowán.This
place is not as fun as Shanghai.
- 火车 没有 飞机 快。 Huǒchē
méiyǒu fēijī kuài.Trains are
not as fast as airplanes.
- 他 没有 他弟弟 聪明。 Tā méiyǒu
tā dìdi cōngming.He's not as smart as
his younger brother.
- Clinton 没有 Obama 帅。 Clinton
méiyǒu Obama shuài.Clinton is
not as handsome as Obama.
- 马云 没有 Bill Gates 有钱。 Mǎyún
méiyǒu Bill Gates yǒuqián.Jack
Ma is not as rich as Bill Gates.
- 你们 公司 没有 我们公司 大。 Nǐmen gōngsī
méiyǒu wǒmen gōngsī dà. Your
company is not as big as ours.
- 拼音 没有 汉字 难。 Pīnyīn
méiyǒu Hànzì nán.Pinyin is not
as difficult as Chinese characters.
- 坐 公交车 没有 坐地铁 方便。 Zuò gōngjiāochē
méiyǒu zuò dìtiě fāngbiàn.Taking the bus is not as convenient as taking the
metro.
- 小米 手机 没有 iPhone 贵。 Xiǎomǐ shǒujī
méiyǒu iPhone guì.The Xiaomi
phone is not as expensive as the iPhone.
- 爸爸 做的 菜 没有 妈妈 做的菜 好吃。Bàba zuò de
cài méiyǒu māma zuò de cài hǎochī.The food dad cooks is not as tasty as the food mom
cooks.
See also
Sources and further
reading
Books
Category:A2 grammar points Category:Comparison