ほうが ~ より Japanese Grammar Lesson
Grammar Type: Phrase
Essential Meaning: A is more ADJECTIVE than B is / A does VERB more ADVERB than B does
Construction:
- Noun 1 のほうが Noun 2 より
- E.g. 先生のほうが学生より [The teacher is more X than the student. / The teacher does X more Y than the student.]
- (Verb / い-Adjective) 1 informal + ほうが + (Verb / い-Adjective) 2 informal non-past
- E.g. 話すほうが聞くより [Speaking is more X than listening]
- E.g. 話したほうが聞くより [Having spoken is more X than having listened / Speaking would have been more X than listening]
- E.g. 食べるほうが寝るより [Eating is more X than Sleeping]
- E.g. 食べたほうが寝るより [Having eaten is more X than having slept / Eating would have been more X than sleeping]
- E.g. 高いほうが安いより [Expensive is more X than inexpensive]
- E.g. 高かったほうが安いより [Having been expensive is more X than having been inexpensive / Being expensive would have been more X than being cheap]
- な-Adjective Stem 1 + [な / だった] + ほうが + な-Adjective Stem 2 + なより
- E.g. 静かな方がきれいなより [Quiet is more X than pretty]
- E.g. 静かだったほうがきれいなより [Having been quiet is more X than having been pretty / Being quiet would have been more X than being pretty]
- Noun 1 + [である / だった] + ほうが + Noun 2 + であるより
- E.g. 先生であるほうが学生であるより [Being a teacher is more X than being a student]
- E.g. 先生だったほうが学生であるより [Having been a teacher is more X than having been a student / Being a teacher would have been more X than being a student]
Notes:
- In Japanese, there are no comparative adjective or adverb forms as there are in English (e.g. “Bigger“, “More quickly“, “More beautiful“, “More beautifully“). Instead, the structure ほうが~より is used to compare adjectives and adverbs. This structure derives its meaning from the comparative particle より.
- In the structure X ほうが Yより, Yより may be omitted if it is obvious from context what X is being compared to.
- E.g. A: トムとジョンとどちらが強いですか。B: トムのほうが強いです。[A: Between Tom and John, who is stronger? B: Tom is stronger.] Based on the question, it is clear that Speaker B is comparing Tom to John, so it’s unnecessary for him to say “Compared to John…“
- In the structure X ほうが Yより, Y must be in the non-past tense. However, X can be either past or non-past depending on the context. When X is in the past-tense, there are two possible interpretations depending on whether or not the main predicate is also in the past-tense.
- If X is in the past-tense and the main predicate is ALSO in the past-tense, then the sentence is interpreted as counterfactual (i.e. “It would have been better if…“).
- E.g. 私が話したほうがきみが話すよりよかった。[It would have been better if I had talked instead of you.]
- If X is in the past-tense and the main predicate is in the non-past tense, then the sentence is interpreted as a hypothetical.
- E.g. 私が話したほうが君が話すよりいいでしょう。[It would be better if I talk instead of you, don’t you think?]
- If X is in the past-tense and the main predicate is ALSO in the past-tense, then the sentence is interpreted as counterfactual (i.e. “It would have been better if…“).
- Grammatically, Yより can precede X ほう.
- E.g. あのカメラよりこのカメラのほうが好きです。[I like this camera more than I like that one.]
- Noun X + のほう is a noun phrase, so it can be used anywhere that a noun can be used (i.e. as a subject, direct object, indirect object, etc.) When Xのほう is used in a position other than as the subject, the Yより X のほう structure is preferable.
- E.g. 私はビールより酒のほうをよく飲む。[I drink sake more than I drink beer.] In this case 酒のほう is the direct object rather than the subject, so the Yより X のほうstructure is used.
- E.g. 学生は川田先生より木村先生のほうによく質問に行く。[Students go to Kimura-sensei with questions more often than they go to Kawada-sensei with question.] In this case, 木村先生のほう is the indirect object, so 川田先生より comes first in the sequence.
- XはYより is another similar pattern that can be used to compare adjectives and adverbs. However, due to the nature of the topic marker は, XはYより can only be used when X has previously been introduced as the topic. When X has been previously introduced as the topic, XはYより is preferable to XほうがYより.
- E.g. *A: トムとジョンとどちらが強いですか。B: トムはジョンより強いです。[A: Between Tom and John, who is stronger? B: Tom is stronger.] Person B uses the XはYより structure even though Tom has not been previously introduced as the topic. Thus, his sentence is ungrammatical.
- E.g. A: トムはとても強いです。B: 彼はジョンより強いです。[Tom is really strong. He’s stronger than John.] In this case, Tom is clearly established as the topic in the first sentence. Therefore, the XはYより structure is appropriate in the second sentence.
Example Sentences:
石田さんのほうが私より若い。[Mr. Ishida is younger than me.]
私のほうが上田さんよりよく食べる。[I can eat more than Mr. Ueda can.]
車で行くほうがバスで行くより安い。[Going by car is cheaper than going by bus.]
このカメラのほうがあのカメラより好きです。[I like this camera more than I like that camera.]
ジェフのほうが私より速く走れる。[Jeff can run faster than I can.]
私が話すほうが君が話すよりいいでしょう。[It would be better if I spoke instead of you.]
もちろん, 安いほうが高いよりうれしいです。[Of course, I’m happier when it’s cheap than when it’s expensive.]
子供は元気なほうが静かなより安心だ。[Speaking of kids, you feel more at ease when they’re lively than when they are quiet.]
私は女であるほうが男であるより楽しいと思う。[I think being a girl is more fun than being a boy.]
WILD Examples:
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