Grammar Patterns - making comparisons

[JustinJJ]

HI,

 

I was wondering if there is a list on the internet somewhere showing an extensive list of grammar patterns pertaining to comparing things （over and above A比B and B比如A). I sometimes feel that during conversations I could always compare things in a smoother way, so what I'd like to do is find an extensive list of these patterns and burn them into active memory, by learning the structure and learning many examples so that I can use them quickly without making mistakes. Examples of the sorts of words I'm looking for (in the context of a grammar pattern) would be the following: 对比起来，相比之下, 与此相反, 比较起来,相对起来.  THX!

[Baron]

Try buying a grammar book. They usually have sections on comparisons.

 

Or put the phrases you want into here: http://dj.iciba.com/

 

Or just google the phrases and pick out sentences from articles, blogs etc.

[mandarina]

I also find http://jukuu.com/ very useful.

 

The differences between some of the phrases you've mentioned are quite slight so I'd suggest you study them in context instead of learning rules for each specific item. Also, as you probably already know, Chinese grammar has less rules than, let's say, English grammar, but that doesn't mean that it's less complex. Chinese has a lot of unwritten rules that you'll only learn by frequent usage.

[Altair]

I ran across a new pattern while reviewing page 490 of Vol 1 of Cracking the Chinese Puzzles and do not understand the grammar behind ”不了多少". The context and translation are as follows:

 

孙膑知道了，看到齐威王的马比田忌的马跑得快不了多少，于是对田忌说："……"

When Sunbian knew about it, and observed that the King's horses did not run very much faster than General Dian's, he said to General Dian, "...."

 

What is the grammar behind 不了多少?  Is it simply the same usage as 跑不了多少, but with 跑 expanded to 跑得快?  I am surprised to see that potential structure can constitute a complement of extent.

 

If 跑不了多少 is good Chinese, does it mean, "can't run very much"?

[JustinJJ]

You can't use it in isolation, it's used when making a comparison. It means A is faster than B but not by much. the 不了多少 part indicates the difference is minimal.

[Altair]

Does the comparison have to be built on a complement of extent?  Can you say:

 

英文比中文语言难不了多少。

English grammar is not much more difficult than Chinese grammar?

[歐博思]

 

英文比中文语言难不了多少。

English grammar is not much more difficult than Chinese grammar?

 

语法* 

[Tiana]

 

孙膑知道了，看到齐威王的马比田忌的马跑得快不了多少，于是对田忌说："……"

When Sunbian knew about it, and observed that the King's horses did not run very much faster than General Dian's, he said to General Dian, "...."

 

What is the grammar behind 不了多少?  Is it simply the same usage as 跑不了多少, but with 跑 expanded to 跑得快?  I am surprised to see that potential structure can constitute a complement of extent.

 

If 跑不了多少 is good Chinese, does it mean, "can't run very much"?

 

 

不了多少 is a complement. It follows both verbs and adjectives:

跑不了多少: can't run much

快不了多少: not much faster

(Therefore, in 跑得快不了多少, the phrase 不了多少 doesn't have anything to do with the verb 跑, because it's internal to the unit "快不了多少", which, as a unit, modifies  跑)

 

To complicate matters, 不了多少 can also modifies nouns:

赚不了多少钱

买不了多少东西

剩不了多少时间

In these phrases, 不了多少 is internal to the phrase "不了多少+N" and is therefore grammatically independent of the verb that precedes it ("不了多少+N" is the object of the verb).

[sinosplice]

Yes, there is such a list online.  It's on the Chinese Grammar Wiki here:

 

http://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Comparing

 

That list currently includes 5 elementary comparison patterns, 3 intermediate comparison patterns, and 3 upper intermediate comparison patterns, but the list will likely grow.