より ~ の方が - Grammar Discussion

Grammar Points
#1

is more ~ than ~

Structure

  • Noun1より + Noun2の・方・が + Adj
  • Verbより + Verb2方・が + Adj
  • いAdj1より + いAdj2方・が Adj
  • なAdj1な・より + なAdj2な・方・が + Adj

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#2

This grammar point seemed a tad odd to me when I did it, then I realized Genki I reverses the format, Noun1 の・方・が + Noun2 より + Adj. Is there a particular difference or reason to use one over the other (outside of Bunpro)?

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#3

@Darkfire16
Sorry for the late answer :bowing_man:

There is absolutely no difference.
Just remember to put attention to particles, to know which “side” of comparison is better. You will see and hear both word orders. Though I think the one used at Bunpro is more common.

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#4

For this grammar point, do we ever get tested on the より part? Preferably both? (I’m guessing both doesn’t work with the current set up.) Because I don’t think I’d remember the より part right now if I had to write that in. (I’ve had 2 reviews of it.)

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#5

Hey :grin:
The point was that nouns and adjectives that modify ほうが are conjugated, therefore it needed more focus than より.

But you are right, より also needs some reinforcement, I will change some examples, so users would not only use ほう, but also より。

Edit:
Done. :+1:

@MissDagger

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#6

Great. And yeah, I can see how the modifying of the nouns/adjectives are important. :slight_smile:

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#7

I have another question. I tried to look up 方 but couldn’t find anything with a search online. Why is there a need for の before the nouns? Since the verbs are acting like nouns, why don’t they need の or こと?

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#8

Ohh sorry for not seeing the question, I bet you know the e answer now, but it will be for future readers too.

The verb can be directly attached to the noun when it modifies it. There is no need for anything else between. Similar how い adjectives modify (describe) nouns.

In the case of nouns, の is needed when modifying noun with another noun. This is a grammatical rule. Similar how な adjectives modify (describe) nouns.

の and こと (in case of verbs) are needed to change a verb into a noun. This is a process called nominalization.

Cheers,
(and super sorry for late reply :bowing_man:)

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#9

Hi,

I would appreciate it a lot, if some of the example sentences would be changed to the pattern:
Noun1 の・方・が + Noun2 より

Thanks
Andreas

#10

Why? Just for variety?

#11

This is regarding the red box’s example: これがより高い. But I am confused by the follow-up statement, “In this example, because the より is before が, not before これ…” より is after が, which is why I am confused. (It is also late and I likely need a break.) Please advise.

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#12

The redaction is a bit weird, but it basically means that the positioning of が and より would alter the overall meaning of the sentence due to what they’re marking.

これがより高い → [これが] [より高い]
→ [This, the subject] [Expensive, in relation to other things]

“This is more expensive.” (Compared to other things in general)

Let’s compare it to:

これより高い → [これより] [高い]
→ [This, in relation to other things] [Is expensive]

“It’s more expensive than this.”

これが高い → [これが] [高い]
→ [This, the subject] [Is expensive]

“It’s expensive.”

Hope this clears it up a bit!

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#13

わかりました。ありがとうございました。

#14

This sentence turned up in my reviews:
漢字（）より、文法（）のほうを勉強（）したい。

I typed のほうが here and got a hint that another particle (を apparently) would be more natural than が. Why is this? I can’t find a mention of this in the grammar point or its examples.

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#15

wondering the same. weird solution