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Study in the app →Mandarin Chinese · HSK 3.0 Band 2 · Chapter 4
北京比上海大 Beijing is bigger than Shanghai
Using A 比 B + adjective for the most basic comparison. Picks up directional vocabulary: 北方 / 南方 (north / south), 这边 / 那边 / 旁边 (this side / that side / next to).
Dialogue
北京比上海大 — Beijing is bigger than Shanghai
- 张天 北京比上海大. Beijing is bigger than Shanghai.
- 高文 是, 北京大. 但是上海的人比北京多. True, Beijing is big. But Shanghai has more people than Beijing.
- 张天 真的吗? Really?
- 高文 上海现在差不多两千五百万人. Shanghai's about twenty-five million people now.
- 张天 啊, 不少! Wow, that's a lot!
Dialogue
北方人比南方人高 — Northerners are taller than southerners
- 张天 北方人比南方人高. Northerners are taller than southerners.
- 高文 是吗? 我是北方人, 我不高. Is that so? I'm a northerner, and I'm not tall.
- 张天 你不算, 大家都比你高. You don't count — everyone's taller than you.
- 高文 我的朋友周雨是南方人, 周雨比我高. My friend Zhou Yu is a southerner. Zhou Yu is taller than me.
- 张天 啊, 那也对. Hmm, fair enough.
Dialogue
那边比这边好 — Over there is better than over here
- 张天 高文, 你在哪儿? Gao Wen, where are you?
- 高文 我在这边. I'm over here.
- 张天 那边比这边好, 我们去那边吧. Over there is better than over here. Let's go over there.
- 高文 好. 旁边有公共汽车, 我们坐车去. OK. There's a bus right next to us — let's take that.
- 张天 出发! Let's go!
Vocabulary
- 比
-
preposition than (A 比 B + adjective — comparison preposition)
- 北方
-
noun the north; northern region
- 南方
-
noun the south; southern region
- 长
-
adjective long (also reads zhǎng "to grow" — deferred)
- 短
-
adjective short (length); brief
- 高
-
adjective tall; high
- 边
-
noun side; edge — used as a locative suffix (这边, 那边, 旁边)
- 这边
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noun this side; this way; over here
- 那边
-
noun that side; that way; over there
- 旁边
-
noun next to; beside; on the side
New characters
- 海
-
sea (in 海边)
海边 hǎibiān — seaside - 千
-
thousand (二09)
千万 qiānwàn — by all means; whatever you do - 万
-
ten thousand (二09)
千万 qiānwàn — by all means; whatever you do
Hanzi — writing & recognition
bǐ than (comparison preposition); to compare Writing
比 is an associative compound: two 匕 (ancient pictograph of a person) standing side-by-side, depicting two figures being compared. Original meaning: "to compare". Modern senses: (1) the comparison preposition (北京比上海大), (2) the verb "to compare" (比一比 = "let's compare").
běi north Writing
A pictograph: two figures back-to-back. Originally the character for "back" (the body part) — extended to "north" because traditional Chinese houses face south, so your back faces north. Visually contrast with 比 (two figures side-by-side, comparing) — the small visual difference encodes a big semantic one.
nán south Writing
Originally pictographic — possibly depicting a southern-style musical instrument or hut (sources differ). The "south" meaning is firmly established by classical times. 北方 / 南方 are the basic north / south pair, used everywhere from地理 to weather to cultural stereotypes.
cháng / zhǎng long (cháng); to grow (zhǎng) — this chapter uses cháng Writing
duǎn short (length); brief Recognition
gāo tall; high (Level 1 revisit) Recognition
jīng capital (in 北京 = Beijing, 南京 = Nanjing, 京剧 = Peking opera) Recognition
biān side; edge (locative suffix in 这边 / 那边 / 旁边) Recognition
páng side; alongside (in 旁边 = next to) Recognition
Grammar
A 比 B + adjective — the basic comparison pattern
Explanation
比 is a preposition that goes BETWEEN A and B, not after the adjective. The pattern is rigid: A 比 B + adjective. Word-order trap: don't copy English "Beijing big than Shanghai" — Chinese is "Beijing 比 Shanghai big". Modifier trap: the adjective cannot take 很 / 非常 / 真 in a 比 sentence (北京比上海很大 is wrong). To express degree, use 更 / 还 or a quantity complement — both taught in ch5.
Examples
- 北京比上海大. Beijing is bigger than Shanghai.
- 上海的人比北京多. Shanghai has more people than Beijing.
- 北方人比南方人高. Northerners are taller than southerners.
- 那边比这边好. Over there is better than over here.
Pronunciation
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