Chinese – Mandarin – sentence – How to say ” He is not taller than I ” in Chinese: 他不比我高。Ta1 bu4 bi3 wo3 gao1. Ta1 (他pronoun, he) bu4 (不negative prefix, not) bi3 (比 verb, compare) wo3 (我 pronoun, I) gao1 (高 adjective, tall).
For Ta1 bu4 bi3 wo3 gao1. The condition can be 1. I am taller than he. or 2. We are the same height. Bu4 bi3 is like “not more than” in English.
Another way to express the similar situation is Ta1 mei2 you3 wo3 gao1. 他没有我高。(He is not taller than I). But, when you said mei2 you3 wo3 gao1 mean that you are definitely taller than he.
Let’s review:
use bi3 比 for Chinese comparison
If we are comparing two items, the structure is
Noun 1 －－ bi3 －－ noun2 －－ adjective
For example: Ta1 de5 shu1 bi3 wo3 de5 shu1 da4.
他的书比我的书大。
His book is bigger than mine.
Noun1 bi3 noun2 adjective
ta1 de5 shu1 bi3 wo3 de5 shu1 da4
他的书 比 我的书 大
Modifiers of bi3
(1) yi4 dian3 er5 一点儿 a bit
Ta1 de5 shu1 bi3 wo3 de5 shu1 da4 yi4 dian3 er5.
他的书比我的书大一点儿。
His book is a bit bigger than mine.
(2) duo1 le5 多了 a lot
Ta1 de5 shu1 bi3 wo3 de5 shu1 da4 duo1 le5.
他的书比我的书大多了。
His book is much bigger than mine.
You can also use 得多 de2 duo1 to replace duo1 le5, both mean a lot more, for example, the above sentence is the same as
Ta1 de5 shu1 bi3 wo3 de5 shu1 da4 de2 duo1.
他的书比我的书大得多。
His book is a lot bigger than mine.
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Albeit the boring grammar, here is a song for you:)
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