Comparison II

Often it is necessary to make comparisons during oral presentations (especially when you are doing the detailed study for year 12). The difficulty is not always actually making the comparison, but leading up to it. The following patterns are just some of the ways you can lead up to making a comparison in Japanese.

 

"Object to be compared 1"と"object to be compared 2"をくらべて、…

Having a translation of: ‘compare "object to be compared 1" and "object to be compared 2" and…’

 

The above pattern is probably not the best one to use, as it doesn’t "flow" very nicely with a preceeding sentence and the comparison that comes after it. The next two sentence patterns are probably better alternatives.

 

"Object to be compared 1"と"object to be compared 2"をくらべると、…

Having a translation of: ‘If/when you compare "object to be compared 1" and "object to be compared 2"’.

 

As you can see, a much better alternative. However, like one of the three grammar patterns discussed in Comparison I, the above two sentences do not make "object to be compared 1" the subject of the sentence due to the absence of the particle は. The following third grammar pattern makes the "object to be compared 1" the subject of the sentence:

 

"Object to be compared 1"は"object to be compared 2"とくらべたら、…

This yields the exact same translation as the second grammar pattern, but be careful to note the significant differences in particles and verbs used between the two patterns.

 

Like the grammar patterns discussed in Comparison I, the objects to be compared are usually nouns. Also note that the verb stem used in all three of these patterns, くらべ, derives from the verb くらべる which means "to compare". The actual comparison can come immediately after these patterns – no connective particle is required.

 

Examples:

 

私と母をくらべて、私のほうが母より　ケーキを作ることが上手です。

"Compare myself and my mother and I can make a cake more skillfully than my mother."

 

日本とオーストラリアをくらべると、オーストラリアのほうが日本より大きいです。

"If you compare Japan and Australia, Australia is larger than Japan."

 

林水先生は森本様とくらべたら、林水先生は森本様とにています。

"If you compare professor Hayashimizu and Mr. Morimoto, professor Hayashimizu is similar to Mr. Morimoto."

(~にています is explained next)

 

The following sentence patterns are a few more ways to compare nouns in different ways than のほうが and

より.

 

"Object to be compared 1"は"object to be compared 2"とにています。

Having a translation of: ‘"Object to be compared 1" is similar to "object to be compared 2"’.

 

"Object to be compared 1"は"object to be compared 2"とちがいます。

Having a translation of: ‘"Object to be compared 1" is different to "object to be compared 2"’.

 

Once again, the objects to be compared in the above two sentences (as well as "object to be compared 1" in the next grammar pattern) are usually nouns.

The third grammar pattern changes slightly when used with nouns and adjectives.

 

"Object to be compared 1"は"noun"と同じです。

"Object to be compared 1"は"adjective"が同じです。

Having a translation of ‘"Object to be compared 1" is the same as "noun/adjective"’.

Since the particle は is present in each of the three grammar patterns. The object to be compared that comes before it is the subject.

 

Examples:

 

私は母とにています。

"I am similar to my mother."

 

あなたの車は私の車とちがいます。

"Your car is different to my car."

 

その家は次の家と同じです。

"That house is the same as the next house."

 

Unfortunately, I can’t think of an example that would make sense by using an adjective in the third grammar pattern. If anyone can think of a logical example, please post it as a comment so I can put it up. Thanks!

 

That concludes Comparison II. Comparison III (I’m pretty sure that’s the last one) will be up soon.