Here is the first thing to unlearn: Japanese adjectives do not change form to compare. There is no -er. 高い is "high," and "higher" is also just 高い. English rebuilds the adjective (tall → taller, good → better, expensive → more expensive); Japanese leaves the adjective completely untouched and does all the comparison work with particles instead. This is genuinely good news — the hardest part of English comparatives (the irregular good → better, the "more" vs "-er" decision) simply doesn't exist. Your entire job is to place two little markers correctly: より ("than," attached to the losing/standard item) and のほうが ("the more one," attached to the winner).
The basic frame: AはBより + adjective
The workhorse pattern is A は B より [adjective] — "A is more [adjective] than B." Read it literally as "As for A, compared-to-B, [adjective]." The particle より attaches to B, the standard you are measuring against — this is the mirror image of English, where "than" comes before the standard ("bigger than Osaka"). In Japanese the standard comes first and より follows it.
東京は大阪より大きい。
tōkyō wa ōsaka yori ōkii
Tokyo is bigger than Osaka.
飛行機は電車より速いけど、高い。
hikōki wa densha yori hayai kedo, takai
Planes are faster than trains, but expensive.
今日は昨日より暖かいですね。
kyō wa kinō yori atatakai desu ne
It's warmer today than yesterday, isn't it.
Notice 大きい, 速い, 暖かい are the plain dictionary adjectives. Nothing has been added to them. All the comparison lives in より.
のほうが: pointing at the winner
The other half of the toolkit is のほうが, literally "the direction/side of _," which you attach to whichever item is more [adjective]. ほう (方) means "side" or "direction," so AのほうがBより高い is "A's side is higher than B's." のほうが is what you reach for when you want to emphasize the winner or when the comparison is the main news of the sentence.
こっちのほうが安いよ。
kotchi no hō ga yasui yo
This one's cheaper.
夏より冬のほうが好きです。
natsu yori fuyu no hō ga suki desu
I like winter more than summer.
You can use のほうが alone (こっちのほうが安い) or pair it with より (Bより Aのほうが〜) to name both items explicitly. When both appear, the natural order is standard-より + winner-のほうが + adjective, though Japanese word order is flexible and speakers reorder these freely.
バスより電車のほうが便利だと思う。
basu yori densha no hō ga benri da to omou
I think the train is more convenient than the bus.
Asking "which is more?": AとBとどちらが〜
To ask a two-way comparison question, list the candidates with と…と and ask with どちらが ("which of the two is more…?"). どちら is the polite/neutral "which"; in casual speech it often shrinks to どっち.
犬と猫と、どちらが好きですか。
inu to neko to, dochira ga suki desu ka
Which do you like more, dogs or cats?
紅茶とコーヒー、どっちがいい？
kōcha to kōhī, dotchi ga ii?
Which would you like, black tea or coffee?
Crucially, you answer such a question with のほうが, not より — because your answer is announcing the winner, and のほうが is the winner-marker.
猫のほうが好きです。静かだから。
neko no hō ga suki desu. shizuka da kara
I like cats more, because they're quiet.
If you genuinely have no preference, the set phrase is どちらも / どっちも "both / either is fine": どっちもいい, どちらでもいいです.
The negative comparison: BほどAは〜ない
There is one more pattern that completes the picture, and it is the mirror of the positive comparative: B ほど A は [adjective]-ない — "A is not as [adjective] as B." Where より sets up "more than," ほど…ない sets up "not to the extent of." The item after ほど is the yardstick you fail to reach.
今年の夏は、去年ほど暑くない。
kotoshi no natsu wa, kyonen hodo atsuku nai
This summer isn't as hot as last year.
この問題は、思ったほど難しくなかった。
kono mondai wa, omotta hodo muzukashiku nakatta
This problem wasn't as hard as I'd thought.
This is worth internalizing precisely because English uses the same adjective in both directions ("hotter than" / "not as hot as") while Japanese uses two different structures (より vs ほど…ない). For the full range of ほど, including its "extent" and approximation uses, see ほど and くらい/ぐらい.
Register and polish
The core particles are register-neutral — より, のほうが, and どちらが all work in formal and informal speech alike. What shifts is the edges: どちら (neutral/formal) vs どっち (informal), and the sentence-final copula (だ vs です) and particles (よ, ね). In stiff written comparison — reports, comparative studies — you may also see より written with the kanji 〜より or reinforced with もっと ("more") for emphasis: もっと安い "even cheaper." もっと, though, is an intensifier, not a comparison marker, and it does not need より.
もっと大きい声で話してもらえますか。
motto ōkii koe de hanashite moraemasu ka
Could you speak in a louder voice?
Common Mistakes
1. Trying to inflect the adjective. There is no 高いer, no たかいい, no 高いより built into the word. The adjective is inert; only the particles move.
❌ 東京は大阪よりもっと大きいい。
Incorrect — invented '-er' ending on the adjective.
✅ 東京は大阪より大きい。
tōkyō wa ōsaka yori ōkii
Tokyo is bigger than Osaka.
2. Putting より on the wrong item. より attaches to the standard (the thing being beaten), which comes first — unlike English "than," which comes before the standard at the end.
❌ 大阪は東京より大きい。（意図：東京のほうが大きい）
Incorrect — this actually says Osaka is bigger than Tokyo.
✅ 東京のほうが大阪より大きい。
tōkyō no hō ga ōsaka yori ōkii
Tokyo is bigger than Osaka.
3. Answering a どちらが question with より. The answer names the winner, so it takes のほうが, not より.
❌ 犬より好きです。（「どっちが好き？」への答え）
Incorrect as an answer — sounds like an unfinished 'more than dogs...'.
✅ 犬のほうが好きです。
inu no hō ga suki desu
I like dogs more.
4. Reading ほう as though it needs an adjective ending. のほうが already carries the comparative sense; you still use the plain adjective after it.
❌ こっちのほうが安いより。
Incorrect — stray より with no standard to attach to.
✅ こっちのほうが安い。
kotchi no hō ga yasui
This one is cheaper.
5. Mixing up より and ほど…ない. "Not as … as" is ほど…ない, not より…ない. より…ない reads as a strange "not more than."
❌ 今年は去年より暑くない。（意図：去年ほど暑くない）
Incorrect for 'not as hot as' — use ほど, not より.
✅ 今年は去年ほど暑くない。
kotoshi wa kyonen hodo atsuku nai
This year isn't as hot as last year.
Key Takeaways
- The adjective never changes. Japanese has no -er; comparison is 100% particle-driven.
- より attaches to the standard (the thing you compare against) and comes first — the opposite position from English "than."
- のほうが tags the winner, and it is how you answer a どちらが ("which is more?") question.
- The negative comparison is a separate pattern: BほどAは〜ない, "A is not as … as B."
- Register is carried by the edges (どちら vs どっち, です vs だ), not by the comparison itself.
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- Superlatives: 一番 / の中でN4 — How Japanese forms the superlative by ranking rather than inflecting — 一番 ('number one') before the adjective, 〜の中で to set the scope, and 最も for formal writing.
- ほど and くらい/ぐらい: Extent and ApproximationN3 — How くらい/ぐらい mark rough amounts and 'at least this much,' how ほど marks extent and the AはBほど…ない comparison, and why 'the more… the more' is ば〜ほど — never くらい.
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