より (Point Of Comparison) Japanese Grammar Lesson
Grammar Type: Particle
Essential Meaning: From / Before / After / Inside
Construction:
- Location Noun + より
- E.g. アメリカより [From America / Compared with America]
- Time Noun + より
- E.g. 三時より [Before 3 o’clock / After 3 o’clock / From 3 o’clock / Compared with 3 o’clock]
Notes:
- より(Point Of Comparison) indicates a space or time to which some situation, event, or thing is compared.
- E.g. Space: これより [From this place] In this case, HERE is the point in space relative to which some situation takes place (e.g. “From here“, “Up to here“, “North of here“).
- E.g. Time: 三時より [From 3 o’clock] In this case, 3 o’clock is the point in time relative to which some situation takes place (e.g. “Before 3 o’clock“, “After 3 o’clock“).
- より(Point Of Comparison) may mark a real, physical thing, or it may mark an abstract or conceptual thing.
- E.g. 八十点より上は合格です。[Eighty points and above is a pass.] Here, 80 points represents a conceptual point (as opposed to a physical space) beyond which is a pass and beneath which is a fail.
- から (Starting Point / Source Marker) is another particle that is similar but not identical to より (Point of comparison). The basic difference between the two is that から (Starting Point / Source Marker) simply marks a starting point, while より indicates a comparison between two things. から (Starting Point / Source Marker) may be freely used in place of より when referring to a set point in space. However, when referring to time, から (Starting Point / Source Marker) can only replace より when indicating a starting time.
- E.g. この線から内側に入ってはいけません。[You must not go beyond this line.]
- E.g. この線より内側に入ってはいけません。[You must not go beyond this line.]
- E.g. 三時より後に来てください。[Please come after 3 o’clock.]
- E.g. 三時から後に来てください。[Please come after 3 o’clock.] This sentence is acceptable because から (Starting Point / Source Marker) marks a starting time from when it is acceptable to come.
- E.g. 三時より前に来てください。[Please come before 3 o’clock.]
- E.g. *三時から前に来てください。[Please come before 3 o’clock.] This sentence is unacceptable because から (Starting Point / Source Marker) cannot be used to mark an ending time. It can only mark a starting time.
Example Sentences:
メキシコは赤道より北にある。[Mexico lies north of the equator.]
この線より内側に入ってはいけません。[You must not go beyond this line.]
三時より前に来てください。[Please come before 3 o’clock.]
これより先はバスがありません。[There are no buses from this point.]
WILD Examples:
***YouTube videos may be region-locked depending on your country of origin. If you experience issues, please try using a VPN set to a United States IP address.***