「より」(1) Compare things
「より」(1) Compare things
Compare things
There are multiple ways to make comparisons in Japanese, and one of them is using より. It can be translated as more than or rather than, and it is attached to the item being compared.
1
より is attached to the word or phrase that is less than something else in some way. The rest of the sentence structure is rather flexible. This means that when you see Aより, then you know that something is more than A or rather than A in some way.
One of the frequent basic orders you will find is AよりB, where a thing that follows in B is something that is more than A or rather than A in some way.
But again, the sentence structure here is extremely flexible. The element that is more than A does not need to come after より — it can also appear before it, or even in a separate sentence.
ご飯より今はビールがいい。
Rather than a meal, a beer would be nice.
(Literally: a beer is good)
中国は日本より安い。
China is cheaper than Japan.
父は大きいから、この車を貸すよりその大きな車を貸す。
My father is big, so rather than lending him this car, I will lend him that big car.
2
B can also be omitted. In this case, you can only determine the exact meaning from context.
日本より安い。
(Something is) cheaper than (in) Japan.
Special Note
よりも is a variant of より with pretty much an identical meaning. The main difference is that よりも is stronger than just より.
バスよりも安い。
(Something is) cheaper than a bus.
Formation
食べるより
高いより
静かなより
学生であるより
バスより
General Structure
バスより安い