Level 2 - Lesson 12
This lesson uses a phone call about snow and a diary about running outside to practice weather words and comparison patterns.
Contains 2 words
from childhood; since being little
when one was little; in childhood
Contains 3 words
subway; metro
Contains 3 words
clear; sunny
Contains 2 words
matter; thing
这里比北京冷多了。
Zhèlǐ bǐ Běijīng lěng duō le.
It is much colder here than in Beijing.
下得大不大？
Xià de dà bu dà?
Is it snowing heavily?
昨天比今天下得大。
Zuótiān bǐ jīntiān xià de dà.
Yesterday it snowed more heavily than today.
去外面的时候多穿点儿衣服。
Qù wàimiàn de shíhou duō chuān diǎnr yīfu.
Wear more clothes when you go outside.
阴天下雪什么的就少出去吧。
Yīntiān xià xuě shénme de jiù shǎo chūqù ba.
Situation: Wang Yixue calls Teacher Wang to check the snowy weather before Teacher Wang goes out to buy food.
王一雪
Wang Yixue
喂，王老师，听家月说你那边下雪了。那边比北京冷吗？你今天还要出去买吃的吗？
Hello, Teacher Wang. I heard it is snowing there. Is it colder than Beijing? Are you still going out to buy food today?
Comparative Sentences (4)
Add 多了 (duō le) after the comparison adjective to say A is much more of that quality than B.
A large difference in one quality
Compare A with B, name the quality, then mark the gap as large.
building; floor
stop; station
outside
cloudy; overcast
just; right in the middle of doing something
On cloudy, snowy days and things like that, go out less.
每天坐两站地铁去学校。
Měitiān zuò liǎng zhàn dìtiě qù xuéxiào.
Every day I took the subway two stops to school.
今天是个大晴天。
Jīntiān shì ge dà qíngtiān.
Today is a very sunny day.
他小时候经常跑步。
Tā xiǎoshíhou jīngcháng pǎobù.
He often ran when he was little.
跑得比我快。
Pǎo de bǐ wǒ kuài.
Runs faster than me.
他从小喜欢跑步。
Tā cóngxiǎo xǐhuan pǎobù.
He has liked running since he was little.
有事情记得给我打电话。
Yǒu shìqing jìde gěi wǒ dǎ diànhuà.
If there is something, remember to call me.
他正跑步呢。
Tā zhèng pǎobù ne.
He is running right now.
王老师
Teacher Wang
这里比北京冷多了。今天不大，昨天比今天下得大。我要去买吃的。
It is much colder here than in Beijing. It is not heavy today; yesterday it snowed more heavily than today. I need to go buy food.
王一雪
Wang Yixue
那一次多买点儿，买完就回去吧。
Then buy a little more in one trip and go back as soon as you finish.
王老师
Teacher Wang
好，我正准备出去，买完就回家。
Okay. I am getting ready to go out now, and I will come home as soon as I finish buying it.
Situation: On a sunny day, Li Wen adjusts the running pace to Bai Jiayue and the pair agree on a route to the subway station.
李文
Li Wen
今天是个大晴天，我们去楼外面跑步吧。
Today is a very sunny day. Let's go outside the building to run.
白家月
Bai Jiayue
好，但我跑得没有你快。
Okay, but I don't run as fast as you.
李文
Li Wen
那我跑慢一点儿，我们一起跑到地铁站。
Then I'll run a little slower. We'll run to the subway station together.
白家月
Bai Jiayue
好，到了地铁站我们就走回来。
Okay. When we reach the subway station, we'll walk back.
Keep the adjective bare after 比 (bǐ): say 冷多了 (lěng duō le), not 很冷多了 (hěn lěng duō le).
多了 (duō le) makes the difference in coldness large.
这里比北京冷多了。
It is much colder here than in Beijing.
The two days are compared on heat, and 多了 (duō le) marks a large gap.
今天比昨天热多了。
Today is much hotter than yesterday.
这里比北京冷多了。
It is much colder here than in Beijing.
今天比昨天热多了。
Today is much hotter than yesterday.
Dialogue 01: A Call About Snow, Turn 2
The place is much colder
这里比北京冷多了。今天不大，昨天比今天下得大。我要去买吃的。
It is much colder here than in Beijing. It is not heavy today; yesterday it snowed more heavily than today. I need to go buy food.
Use A + 比 (bǐ) + B + adjective + 多了 (duō le) when the two things differ by a large degree. In 这里比北京冷多了 (zhèlǐ bǐ Běijīng lěng duō le), both places are compared on coldness and 多了 (duō le) makes the gap large. Here 多了 (duō le) measures the degree of the adjective; it does not mean that there are more countable things. Do not put 很 (hěn) before the adjective in a 比 (bǐ) comparison.
Comparative Sentences (5)
Use 得 (de) with the action result and place 比 (bǐ) either before the comparison standard or before the action phrase.
Compare an action result
Compare how A and B perform the same action.
This form compares performance. For a simple adjective quality, use the basic A + 比 (bǐ) + B + adjective form instead.
跑得 (pǎo de) opens the action-result description; 比你快 (bǐ nǐ kuài) supplies the standard and difference.
我跑得比你快。
I run faster than you.
The two days come before the shared action 下得大 (xià de dà).
昨天比今天下得大。
Yesterday it snowed more heavily than today.
我跑得比你快。
I run faster than you.
昨天比今天下得大。
Yesterday it snowed more heavily than today.
Dialogue 01: A Call About Snow, Turn 2
Compare how heavily it snowed
这里比北京冷多了。今天不大，昨天比今天下得大。我要去买吃的。
It is much colder here than in Beijing. It is not heavy today; yesterday it snowed more heavily than today. I need to go buy food.
This subtype compares the manner or result of an action rather than a simple quality of a person or thing. One order is A + verb + 得 (de) + 比 (bǐ) + B + description, as in 我跑得比你快 (wǒ pǎo de bǐ nǐ kuài). Another is A + 比 (bǐ) + B + verb + 得 (de) + description, as in 昨天比今天下得大 (zuótiān bǐ jīntiān xià de dà). In both orders, 得 (de) attaches the description to the action, and 比 (bǐ) introduces the comparison standard.
Comparative Sentences (6)
When the action includes an object, name the full activity before 比 (bǐ), then repeat the verb after B before 得 (de) and the result.
Keep the object and repeat the verb
Name A's full activity, introduce B, then repeat the verb so the result description has a place to attach.
The repeated verb is structural, not accidental repetition: 跑步 (pǎobù) names the activity, while 跑得快 (pǎo de kuài) describes its result.
跑步 (pǎobù) names the activity; 跑得快 (pǎo de kuài) gives A's superior result.
我跑步比你跑得快。
I run faster than you.
足球 (zúqiú) stays with A's first verb; 踢 (tī) repeats after the comparison standard before 得好 (de hǎo).
他踢足球比我踢得好。
He plays football better than I do.
我跑步比你跑得快。
I run faster than you.
他踢足球比我踢得好。
He plays football better than I do.
Dialogue 02: Running Outside on a Sunny Day, Turn 3
Compare running with the activity named
我小时候经常跑步，我跑步比你跑得快。
I often ran when I was little, and I run faster than you.
Comparative Sentences (6) solves an object-placement problem. In 我跑步比你跑得快 (wǒ pǎobù bǐ nǐ pǎo de kuài), 跑步 (pǎobù) names A's full activity before 比 (bǐ). After the comparison standard 你 (nǐ), the verb 跑 (pǎo) appears again so 得快 (de kuài) can describe the result. The same model appears in 他踢足球比我踢得好 (tā tī zúqiú bǐ wǒ tī de hǎo). Do not let the object replace the repeated result verb: the listener needs the second verb + 得 (de) + description to know how the performances differ.
