Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 8: 11/13

より～の方(ほう)がTo be more ~ than ~

Structure

Verb (A) + より + Verb (B) + 方(ほう) + が

［い］Adjective (A) + より + ［い］Adjective (B) + 方(ほう) + が

［な］Adjective (A) + な + より + ［な］Adjective (B) + な + 方(ほう) + が

Noun (A) + より + Noun (B) + の + 方(ほう) + が

Details

  • Part of Speech

    Expression

  • Word Type

    Adjective / Adjectival Noun

  • Register

    Standard

About より～のほうが

より～のほうが can be thought of as similar to the grammar points たほうがいい, and ないほうがいい, in that it expresses that one thing is the 'better (A)', or 'more (A)'. However, unlike ほうがいい based expressions, any pair of adjectives, verbs, or nouns may be compared in this construction, so long as のほうが is followed by an adjective.

より translates roughly to 'than', or 'rather than' in this phrase.

From the examples listed here, we can see that より will always appear after the word that has the lower extent of (A), when used together with のほうが.

Caution

When より is used by itself, or when it is not linked directly to the previous word, it can seem like it has the opposite meaning. However, in these cases, のほうが just remains unsaid.

  • これがより高(たか)い。
    This is more expensive. (Compared to other things in general)

In this example, because the より is after が, not before これ, it is easy to assume that これ is the thing that is lower. However, this が behaves in the same way as のほうが, meaning that これ itself is the more expensive thing, with より just being used like 'relatively' (compared to many other things).

Caution

Although の方(ほう)が is the most common construction, the particle を may sometimes replace が. This is especially true when used with markers of desire such as たい and ほしい. The primary difference between these two is that が emphasizes what a person wants or wants to do (the whole statement), while を emphasizes the item or action itself (regardless of the rest of the statement). With たい, both を and が will sound completely natural. However, with ほしい, が will be more natural, while を is accepted.

  • 給料(きゅうりょう)がいい仕事(しごと)より、楽(たの)しい仕事(しごと)の方(ほう)をしたい。(Natural Japanese)
    I want to do a job that is fun, more than a job that pays better.
  • この小(ちい)さいテレビより、その大(おお)きいテレビの方(ほう)を欲(ほ)しい。(Natural Japanese, but が is more common)
    I want that big TV rather than this small TV.

This use of ほしい only applies to wanting items, as opposed to たい, which indicates the desire to 'do' something.

Examples

--:--

    このパンよりそのパンのほうが美味(おい)しいです。

    That bread is more delicious than this bread.

    バスケットボールよりサッカーのほうが好(す)き。

    I like soccer more than basketball.

    ユキよりリュウトのほうが賢(かしこ)い。

    Ryuto is smarter than Yuki.

    月曜日(げつようび)より、日曜日(にちようび)のほうが好(す)き。

    I like Sunday more than Monday.

    あそこの 公園(こうえん)より、家(いえ)に近(ちか)い公園(こうえん)のほうが広(ひろ)い。

    The park near my house is more spacious than that park over there.

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より～のほうが – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (16 in total)

  • komocode

    komocode

    wondering the same. weird solution

  • Tensor

    Tensor

    I haven’t seen too much of なより in the wild. For example, a sentence like:

    静かより、賑やかなほうが好きです。

    Seems natural. Is there a real difference here? Is this ungrammatical?

  • Fuga

    Fuga

    Hey @Tensor !

    静かより、賑やかなほうが好きです sounds a little unnatural because a な must be placed between the adjective and より. The sentence above could pass as ‘natural’ in a very casual conversation if the です at the end were to be removed.

    The only reason it could pass as ‘natural’ is simply because it is used in a casual context and that’s it, but in any other contexts, it will sound more natural if the な was included.

    This becomes more clear when you add more context to the sentence you have provided.

    For example ルームメイトは静かなより、賑やかな方が好きです sounds natural, and ルームメイトは静かより、賑やかな方が好きです sounds very unnatural since it is ungrammatical.

    I hope this answers your question!

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