Comparison III

Often questions can be asked of people in terms of comparing something they like or indeed it could be purely a general knowledge question (eg: which island is bigger?). To ask a question dealing with two objects compared in a certain way, use the following grammar pattern:

 

"Object to be compared 1" と "object to be compared 2" と "interrogative pronoun*" が "form of comparison"　ですか。

Having a translation of ‘ "interrogative pronoun" is "form of comparison", "object to be compared 1" or "object to be compared 2"? ‘

 

*Just in case you don’t know what interrogatvie pronouns are (I hope you do), they are words such as "what", "which", "who", etc.

 

Examples:

 

北海道と本州とどちらが大きいですか。　(The classic example)

 

"Which is bigger, Hokkaido or Honshu?"

 

コーヒーとちゃと何が好きですか。

 

"What do you prefer, tea or coffee?"

 

To reply to such questions, you can use the grammar patterns discussed in Comparison I. For example (using the first question in the above examples):

 

本州のほうが北海道より大きいです。

 

"Honshu is bigger than Hokkaido."

 

Alternatively, if you are using the first grammar pattern discussed in Comparison I, it is perfectly acceptable to omit the "object to be compared 2"より part. Consequently, the grammar pattern becomes:

 

"Object to be compared 1" のほうが "form of comparison" です。

Having a translation of: ‘ "Object to be compared 1" is "form of comparison" ‘.

 

Note: I cannot confirm that this works for the other two grammar patterns in Comparison I. If anyone does know if it can be done, please leave a comment. Thanks.

 

The following is an example of how to answer the second question in the above examples using this grammar pattern:

 

コーヒーのほうが好きです。

 

"I prefer coffee."

 

In some cases, when a question of preference is asked, you may like both options or you may like neither.

In such cases the "~も, ~も" grammar pattern can be used. In this case, the "~も, ~も" grammar pattern can be written as:

 

For a positive response:

"Object to be compared 1" も、"object to be compared 2" も "form of comparison" です。

Having a translation of ‘I "form of comparison" both "object to be compared 1" and "object to be compared 2" ‘

 

For a negative response:

"Object to be compared 1" も、"object to be compared 2" も "form of comparison" ではありません。

Having a translation of ‘I "form of comparison" neither "object to be compared 1" nor "object to be compared 2" ‘

 

Examples:

 

コーヒーもちゃも好きです。

 

"I prefer both coffee and tea."

 

オレンジもりんごも好きではありません。

 

"I prefer neither oranges nor apples"

 

Of course, this grammar pattern is not restricted to only comparison; it can be used in a wide variety of scenarios. However, it is a rather lengthy grammar pattern to explain and the full explanation will be included in another entry.

 

Returning to asking questions involving comparison, you may be tempted to continue adding "objects of comparison"と for wanting to compare more than two objects. This is, in fact, grammatically incorrect. For a question involving three or more objects to be compared, a new grammar pattern must be used that uses "grouping of objects" rather than listing each one individually. The following is one such way of acheiving ths:

 

"Group of objects" のなか(中)で "interrogative pronoun" が一番 "form of comparison" です。

Having a translation of ‘amongst (lit. "within") "group of objects", "interrogative pronoun" is the "form of comparison"-est’

 

一番 ("ichiban") literally, means "number one", therefore in this case we can alter its definition to refer to something, when placed before an adjective (in this case "form of comparison"), which is the superlative degree of comparison. For example: 一番好き "most likeable",  一番小さい "smallest", 一番大きい "biggest", etc.

The "group of objects" tend to be nouns and can be general or very specific, for example "Asian islands" or "drinks".

 

As with other grammar patterns, since there is an absence of the particle は, the "group of objects" does not become the topic of the sentence. If you wish to make the "group of objects" the topic, you drop の中で and replace it with には. Hence the grammar pattern becomes:

 

"Group of objects" には "interrogative pronoun" が一番 "form of comparison" です。

This yields the exact same translation as the pattern with の中で used.

 

Examples:

 

日本の島の中でどちらが一番大きいですか。 (A variation of the classic example)

 

"Amongst Japanese islands, which is the biggest?"

 

アイスクリームのあじの中で何が一番好きですか。

 

"Amongst ice cream flavours, what do you like the most?"

 

ビールにはどちらが一番きらいですか。

 

"Amongst beer, which do you dislike the most?"

(Note: in this case きらい is a slightly stronger and more informal word to use. If you wish to go with the politer approach, you’re better off to use 好きではありません).

 

To reply to such questions, a different grammar pattern needs to be utilised. The following grammar pattern is one way of replying to such questions:

 

"Particular object of comparison" が一番 "form of comparison" です。

Having a translation of: ‘ "particular object of comparison" is the "form of comparison"-est’

 

Examples (possible answers to the questions in the previous examples):

 

本州が一番大きいです。

 

"Honshu is the biggest"

 

バニラが一番好きです。

 

"I like vanilla the most"

 

あさひが一番きらいです。

 

"I dislike Asahi the most"

 

That concludes the last comparison topic (finally!). I think for the next entry I will go over the "forbidden topic", namely relative clauses.