A + 有 + B + adjective
Mandarin Chinese Articles
How to use 有 (yǒu) for comparison in Mandarin Chinese?
By: Chun-Yi Peng Fri Aug 30 2024
Mandarin chineseExpression Of Comparison
Mandarin has many ways of expressing comparison. Some common expressions include 比 (bǐ, than), 跟...一样 (gēn… yíyàng, the same as…) and 像 (xiàng, like), as well as 有 (yǒu, as...as…). In this post, we’re going to talk about how to use 有 (yǒu, as...as…) to express comparison. For example:
Q: 洛杉矶有纽约贵吗？
(Luòshānjī yǒu Niǔyuē guì ma?)
Is Los Angeles as expensive as New York?
A: 洛杉矶没有纽约那么贵。
(Luòshānjī méiyǒu Niǔyuē nàme guì.)
Los Angeles is not as expensive as New York.
有 (yǒu, as...as...) is commonly used for questions and negation, like the examples above. The 有 (yǒu, as...as…) structure is quite expressive. It can be used to compare not only noun phrases but also verb phrases. Are you ready for the challenge? Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
How to compare two entities with 有 (yǒu, “as...as…”) in Mandarin Chinese?
Let’s start by comparing two entities (people, things, etc) in terms of their quality, e.g. who/what is bigger, richer, more expensive, etc. than the other. They can be simple nounsNo definition set for nounsLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. or noun phrasesNo definition set for noun phrasesLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.. Are you ready?
How to compare nouns and noun phrases?
As shown in the examples above, we can use the 有 (yǒu, as...as…) structure to compare two things, which can be people, places, ideas, etc. Such a structure is commonly used in questions and negations. Here's another example:
Q: 他有他哥哥高吗？
(Tā yǒu tā gēge gāo ma?)
Is he as tall as his older brother?
If the answer is affirmative, you would use the 跟 (gēn)... 一样 (yīyàng, as...as…) structure and say:
A + 跟 (gēn, with) + B + 一样 (yīyàng, same) + adjective
A: 他跟他哥哥一样高。
(Tā gēn tā gēge yīyàng gāo.)
He is as tall as his older brother.
But if your answer is negative, you would use the 有 (yǒu, as...as…) structure, but remember, the negation word for 有 (yǒu) is always 没 (méi), not 不 (bù). So, you say:
A: 他没有他哥哥那么高。
(Tā méiyǒu tā gēge nàme gāo.)
He is not as tall as his brother.
Did you notice that there is a in the sentence? We can also add modifiers (e.g., 这么 (zhème, this) and 那么 (nàme, that)) to emphasize the degree of difference, though it is hard to translate “that” into English. Here’s how it works:
A + 有 + B + (这么 (zhème) / 那么 (nàme)) + adjective ...
Q: 北京有上海那么热闹吗？
(Běijīng yǒu Shànghǎi nàme rènao ma?)
Is Beijing as bustling as Shanghai?
A: 北京没有上海那么热闹。
(Běijīng méiyǒu Shànghǎi nàme rènao.)
Beijing is not as bustling as Shanghai.
In these examples, 那么 (nàme, that) doesn’t translate well into English, but you get the idea that the speaker emphasizes the degree of Shanghai’s hustle and bustle. And the second sentence (i.e., the answer) says that Beijing is not bustling to that degree.
How to compare verbs and verb phrases?
In addition to comparing nouns and noun phrases, you can compare verbsNo definition set for verbsLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. and verb phrasesNo definition set for verb phrasesLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. too. Take a look at the following examples, where the speaker is comparing “taking a taxi” and “taking the subway”:
Q: 坐出租车有搭地铁这么方便吗？
(Zuò chūzūchē yǒu dā dìtiě zhème fāngbiàn ma?)
Is taking a taxi as convenient as taking the subway?
If your answer is affirmative, you would also use the 跟 (gēn) ... 一样 (yīyàng, as...as…) structure to answer the question, like this:
A: 坐出租车跟搭地铁一样方便。
(Zuò chūzūchē gēn dā dìtiě yīyàng fāngbiàn.)
Taking a taxi is as convenient as taking the subway.
And if your answer is negative, then again, use 没有 (méiyǒu, not) to answer the question.
A: 坐出租车没有搭地铁这么方便。
(Zuò chūzūchē méiyǒu dā dìtiě zhème fāngbiàn.)
Taking a taxi is not as convenient as taking the subway.
In the context where both speakers know they’re comparing something with taking the subway, the second part (i.e. the subway) can be omitted. They can simply say:
坐出租车没有这么方便。
(Zuò chūzūchē méiyǒu zhème fāngbiàn.)
Taking a taxi is not as convenient.
How to compare the actions of two entities with 有 (yǒu, “as...as…”) in Mandarin Chinese?
Now you’ve got the basic ideas, so let’s spice things up a little bit! We’re going to see how to use the 有 structure to compare actions of two entities, e.g., who runs faster, who cooks better, or who plays the piano better than the other. Here we go:
他有我跑得快吗？
(Tā yǒu wǒ pǎo dé kuài ma?)
Does he run as fast as I do?
A + 有 + B + verb + 得 + (这么 (zhème) / 那么 (nàme)) + adverb...
Let’s see this in more detail. When we use a modifier (usually an adverbNo definition set for adverbLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.) to describe an action, we need the "verb + 得 + modifier" structure. For example, in the following sentence, 很快 (hěn kuài, very fast) is the modifier of 跑 (pǎo, run). So, we add a 得 (de) to connect the two.
他跑得很快。
(Tā pǎo de hěn kuài.)
He runs fast.
However, if the verb comes with an objectNo definition set for objectLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum., then we need to repeat the verb, like this: verb + object + verb + 得+ modifier. Here's an example:
他弹钢琴弹得很好。
(Tā tán gāngqín tán de hěn hǎo.)
He plays the piano very well.
In this example, 弹钢琴 (tán gāngqín, play the piano) is a combination of a verb 弹 (tán, play) and an object 钢琴 (gāngqín, piano), commonly known as a VO compound. Therefore, we need to repeat the verb 弹 (tán) after the object 钢琴 (gāngqín), so we get 弹钢琴弹得 (tán gāngqín tán de), followed by 很好 (hěn hǎo, very well), which is the modifier.
Tip
This can be remembered as the VOV得 structure, where the first V can be dropped.
So again, the same idea applies to the 有 (yǒu, as...as…) structure as well. If we’re comparing two actions, we also need the “verb + 得+ modifier" structure. If the verb requires an object, then the same verb has to be repeated after the object, like this:
Q: 他有我(做)饭做得好吗？
(Tā yǒu wǒ (zuò) fàn zuò de hǎo ma?)
Does he cook as well as I do?
Or:
Q: 他(做)饭有我做得好吗？
(Tā (zuò) fàn yǒu wǒ zuò de hǎo ma?)
Does he cook as well as I do?
Similar to the basic structure, if your answer is positive, you would use the 跟 (gēn)......一样 (yīyàng, the same as…)
A: 他跟我(做)饭做得一样好。
(Tā gēn wǒ (zuò) fàn zuò de yīyàng hǎo.)
He cooks as well as I do.
And if your answer is negative, again, you would use 没有 (méiyǒu) for negation:
A: 他没有你(做)饭做得好。
(Tā méiyǒu nǐ (zuò) fàn zuò de hǎo.)
Translation
Or:
他(做)饭没有你做得好。
(Tā (zuò) fàn méiyǒu nǐ zuò de hǎo.)
He doesn’t cook as well as you do.
To sum up
Alright! So, that’s pretty much everything about how to use 有 (yǒu, as...as…) for comparison!
Just to recap very quickly:
A + 有+ B + (verb + 得) + adjective/adverb + (吗?)
The 有 (yǒu, as...as…) structure itself is pretty straightforward, but what usually throws people off is the combination with the “verb + object + verb + 得 + modifier" structure. Remember to repeat the verb when you’re comparing the actions of two people. Now, I think it’s time to try out what you just saw! Check out our exercises here!
Downloadable Resources
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How to use 有 (yǒu) for comparison in Mandarin Chinese~Activities
