-er comparisons

[ralphmat123]

Hello, so I was wondering how to say words like "easier" and "harder" etc ie comparatives in Chinese. I know the structure for comparing using 比 but that's more (I believe) when comparing two things like 中文比英文很难.

But is there a way of just saying “easier" without making a whole comparison sentence.

I'm asking this question because I was talking to a Chinese friend and she said she can write English but speaking is really difficult and I wanted to just say "I find speaking easier" without having to make a whole x 比 y + adjective sentence. Any suggestions? Also if my sentences are wrong please just correct me, I'm here to learn!

Thanks.

[陳德聰]

"比較"容易，"比較"難

[wumaoge]

That's right 比较+adjective is correct, or adjective+些 or adjective+点/一点 depending on the context.

 

Examples:

这篇文章比较容易。

这篇文章容易些。

这篇文章容易一点。

All mean the same thing: This article is easier.

 

你快点！

Hurry up! (litterally "You faster!")

[fangrenye]

if you want to say "easier" without making a whole comparison sentence. I think you can use "更“.

For example, 英语更难，means English is harder。

[Demonic_Duck]

Agree with above two posters. Also:

中文比英文很难

Corrected, you can't use “很” with “比”.

[ralphmat123]

Oh yes I remember that rule now! Thanks!

[tooironic]

My experience is that while the textbook might tell you to say something like 中文比英文难, in the wild native speakers tend to say something like 中文比英文要难一些 or 要难一点. Never could work out exactly why though.

[lingo-ling]

中文比英文還要難 is another way to say it.

[renzhe]

if you want to say "easier" without making a whole comparison sentence. I think you can use "更“.

For example, 英语更难，means English is harder。

This is true, but 英语更难 basically means "English is even harder". It implies that you're comparing it to something that is also hard. In the sense "Chinese is hard, but English is harder".

Not in the sense "Italian is easy, English is harder". For that, you'd use 比较 or the versions with 点 and 些.