The particle we are going to study for today is the particle より. This particle has two uses.
The first is used to express the starting point just like the particle から. La seule petite différence sera que より will be used more to be more polite, that’s the only difference. You will hear it often on Japanese TV news or in official reports and announcements of events. The first use of this particle is rather rare in manga.
The second use, and the one that interests us most here, is to express the basis for a comparison.
However, before we tackle the second function, we will quickly see together the first use of this particle through some examples. No worries ! This use is perfectly similar to that of the particle から.
映画は午後4時より始まる。
えいがはごご4じよりはじまる。
The film starts from 4 pm.
浜松祭りは中田島で午前8時35分より始まる。
はままつまつりはなかたじまでごぜん8じ35ごふんよりはじまる。
The Hamamatsu festival starts from 8:35 am in Nakatajima.
アニメ「ドラゴンボールスーパー」は午前10時より始まる。
アニメ「ドラゴンボールスーパー」はごぜん10じよりはじまる。
The ‘‘Dragon Ball Super’’ anime start at 10 am.
In these three sentences, we could also use the particle から which has exactly the same meaning.
As we cover these examples, remember that you already encountered them in the lesson on time complements where we learned that the particle に is also used to indicate a specific point in time.
So, we could just as easily replace より with に, the meaning of the sentence will remain almost the same.
To give you another example, the particle より can also be used with まで, just like the particle から again :
私は電動自転車で京都より東京まで行く。
わたしはでんどうじてんしゃできょうとよりとうきょうまでいく。
I go from Kyoto to Tokyo by electric bike.
So much for the first use of the particle より. As you can see, there is nothing complicated. Everything happens exactly as with the particle から.
Now let’s move on to the second use of the particle より and be very careful because this time we are entering a somewhat more complex subject.
The particle より will serve as a basis for comparison. In English, it will then translate as « compared to »… Let’s start right away with examples.
Let’s start with a sentence we know how to do. If we mean :
Pandas eat bamboo.
We’ll say :
パンダは竹を食べる。
パンダはたけをたべる。
Pandas eat bamboo.
Now if we want to clarify that pandas eat bamboo rather than meat, we will use the particle より to make the comparison.
パンダは肉より竹を食べる。
パンダはにくよりたけをたべる。
Pandas eat bamboo rather than meat.
Again, the sentence in Japanese is of course reversed from that in English. « Meat » is the object to which « bamboo » is compared to say that « pandas eat bamboo rather than meat ». The comparison therefore relates to bamboo and meat.
I will now show you another case by slightly changing the previous example. If we mean :
Pandas eat bamboo rather than bears.
We’ll say :
パンダは熊より竹を食べる。
パンダはくまよりたけをたべる。
Pandas eat bamboo rather than bears.
You can see that the construction of the sentence in Japanese remains exactly the same. Only with the context wa can understand the meaning of the sentence because you can imagine that pandas do not eat bears… In addition, they are cousins ! We’re just saying that pandas will eat ESPECIALLY bamboo while bears tend to eat something else.
We are now going to push a little further with this new sentence. If we mean :
Pandas eat more bamboo than bears.
This time the comparison isn’t just about bamboo and bears anymore, but on the fact that pandas AND bears eat bamboo AND pandas eat MORE bamboo than bears. The comparison therefore relates to the quantity. To express this idea, we will use the word よく. It is an adverb which will indicate the nuance on the quantity, the frequency which is translated with the adverb « often » and which we will frequently find in the comparisons to express the idea of something that we do MORE than someone else.
パンダは熊より竹をよく食べる。
パンダはくまよりたけをよくたべる。
Pandas eat more bamboo than the bears.
We haven’t studied adverbs in Japanese yet, but don’t worry, the next course will be all about adverbs. In addition, there is a section on the site exclusively devoted to Japanese adverbs where I have compiled over a hundred files on the most common adverbs in the Japanese language with a lot of detailed explanations and examples. But for now, just remember that the adverb comes just before the verb. After all, « adverb » means « before the verb », a simple matter of logic.
If we mean :
Lions eat more birds than fennecs.
We’ll say :
ライオンはフェネックより鳥をよく食べる。
ライオンはフェネックよりとりをよくたべる。
Lions eat more birds than the fennecs.
So, I don’t know if you noticed it, but this sentence has a little ambiguity. In fact, in the Japanese sentence, we don’t know whether the good translation is : « lions eat more birds than fennecs. » OR if « lions eat more birds than fennecs eat them. ». So, lions and fennecs both eat birds, and we say lions eat more birds than fennecs eat them.
In the previous sentences, we didn’t have this ambiguity because we were talking about pandas that eat bamboo rather than meat. So, indeed it can’t be the meat that eats bamboo, it wouldn’t make any sense. Just as pandas eat more bamboo than bears. Although pandas are officially classified as omnivores, it is well known that they feed primarily on plants. And pandas never eat bears, don’t worry !
To get things more complicated, and this little part is for English speakers, I translated the sentence above by :
Lions eat more birds than fennecs.
Translated like this, you can see that even in English, there is a little ambiguity. But if I translate the sentence like this :
Lions eat more birds than the fennecs eat them.
This sentence above is more precise. I say clearly that lions eat more birds than fennecs themselves eat birds.
But I could have translated the sentence like this too :
Lions eat more birds than they eat fennecs.
So, to summarize, we have one Japanese sentence with ambiguity that we could translate in English in three different ways :
ライオンはフェネックより鳥をよく食べる。
ライオンはフェネックよりとりをよくたべる。
Lions eat more birds than fennecs. /
Lions eat more birds than the fennecs eat them. /
Lions eat more birds than they eat fennecs.
So, I know this is all starting to get mixed up in your head and you must be feeling pretty dizzy but don’t worry you will end up recording it all.
So, to come back to our sentence and in order to overcome this ambiguity, we will need the little tip that I put below and thank to that, we can specify the compared :
の方 . のホウ
So, の方 . のホウ will be used to indicate in the sentence the compared, what is compared to the basis of the comparison.
So, if we mean :
Lions eat more birds than the fennecs.
We’ll say :
ライオンの方がフェネックより鳥をよく食べる。
ライオンのほうがフェネックよりとりをよくたべる。
Lions eat more birds than the fennecs.
On the other hand, if we mean :
Lions eat more birds than they eat fennecs.
We’ll say :
ライオンフェネックより鳥の方をよく食べる。
ライオンフェネックよりとりのほうをよくたべる。
Lions eat more birds than they eat fennecs.
Of course, it is quite possible to use の方 . のホウ in a sentence where there is no ambiguity, so we can be completely sure of what the compared is.
The Japanese, in general, give the most informations possible to ensure they are forwarded to the interlocutor even if the sentence contains no ambiguity.
So, の方 . のホウ can very well be used with the first sentences that we saw at the very beginning of the course when we were talking about pandas that eat bamboo RATHER THAN meat…
As a reminder, I’ll put one of the previous sentences below. Take a good look :
パンダは肉より竹を食べる。
パンダはにくよりたけをたべる。
Pandas eat bamboo rather than meat.
If we use の方 . のホウ, this will give us :
パンダは肉より竹の方を食べる。
パンダはにくよりたけのほうをたべる。
Pandas eat bamboo rather than meat.
The meaning of the sentence in Japanese remains exactly the same, we put more emphasis on the compared with の方 . のホウ. The sentence translated into English does not change.
パンダは熊より竹をよく食べる。
パンダはくまよりたけをよくたべる。
Pandas eat more bamboo than the bears eat it.
If we use の方 . のホウ, this will give us :
パンダの方が熊より竹をよく食べる。
パンダのほうがくまよりたけをよくたべる。
Pandas eat more bamboo than the bears eat it.
The meaning of the sentence in Japanese remains exactly the same, we put more emphasis on the compared with の方 . のホウ. Again, the sentence translated into English does not change.
We’ve seen a lot about the particle より and we’ll stop there for now because this course is already full enough.
The particle より is the particle with which many students tear their hair, especially when it is necessary to add の方 . のホウ in case of ambiguity. So, I hope I was clear enough in my explanations.
We will find this particle much later in the rest of the program when we discuss adjectives so we can say :
– « The bull is bigger than the lamb. »
– « The fox is bigger than the fennec. »
– « The crocodile is bigger than the snake. »
– « The mouse is smaller than the rabbit. »
And many other comparisons…
We will also see the superlative and many more things as we further explore all the richness and complexity of the Japanese language. Having said that, making comparisons using the particle より with adjectives is much simpler than with sentences containing verbs as we have just seen in this course. So, don’t worry !
Now I give you your exercises, some theme and version. In the first exercise, you will have to use the particle より to express a comparison but also sometimes to express the starting point. In this case, I’ll tell you to use より. As for the second exercise, pay close attention to the sentence in Japanese to know if より is the particle of the comparison or the starting point.
The exercises will contain the names of insects and reptiles, so take a good look at this vocabulary course. As said before, keep in mind that it is quite common for animal names to be written in katakana, even when it comes to purely Japanese pronunciations. For insects, therefore, I won’t necessarily use the corresponding kanji, I will instead write in katakana.
With that, as usual, I hope you continue with your daily routine by practicing hiragana, katakana and kanji writing regularly, and revising your lessons. You have my full confidence.
Be brave !
The basis for a comparison