Comparing with N보다 (than) + 더

The previous page showed that 더 "more" supplies the direction of a comparison while the adjective stays unchanged. Now we name the thing you are comparing against. Korean does this not with a separate word for "than," but with a particle, 보다, glued directly onto the standard. The full frame is [A] [B]보다 더 + adjective — "A is more _ than B." There is no floating "than" to place, no preposition to choose; 보다 rides on the noun and the adjective stays a plain descriptive verb.

The one thing you must actively manage is which noun 보다 attaches to, because that — not word order — is what decides the direction of the comparison. This page focuses on building the sentence and getting the flip from English right; the particle's own mechanics (allomorphy, clitic behavior, "than I thought") are treated in depth on the 보다 particle page.

The frame: A는 B보다 더 [adjective]

A is the subject — the winner of the comparison. B is the standard — what A is measured against. 보다 clamps onto B, 더 sits in front, and the adjective closes the sentence.

Read 겨울보다 as one chunk: "than winter / compared to winter." 보다 has no allomorph — it is always 보다 whether the noun ends in a vowel or a consonant (겨울보다, 저보다, 어제보다) — and it attaches with no space, like the little postposition "compared-to" that it is.

The reframe English speakers need: it's the particle, not the order

Here is the trap that fossilizes. In English, "than" also precedes the standard — "hotter than winter" — so the surface order lines up with 겨울보다 and learners assume the languages work the same way. They don't. English hangs the comparison on the adjective ("hott-er") and lets "than" be a lightweight link. Korean does the reverse: the adjective 덥다 stays flat, and 보다 carries the whole comparison, fused to the standard.

The practical payoff of that difference is that Korean can scramble the word order freely, because the particle — not the position — marks each noun's role. Fronting the 보다-phrase is completely natural and changes nothing:

Compare this with 동생이 저보다 더 커요 above: the two sentences are word-order variants of the identical claim. In English you cannot move "than me" to the front without breaking the sentence; in Korean you can, because 저보다 stays "than me" no matter where it sits. The role is in the particle, so position is free. This is the deep reason Korean comparison feels slippery to English speakers — you have to read the particles, not the order.

더 is optional — 보다 already signals the comparison

Since 보다 by itself announces a comparison, the 더 is frequently dropped with no loss of meaning. 겨울보다 더워요 and 겨울보다 더 더워요 say the same thing.

Add 더 for emphasis or rhythm; leave it out and the comparison still reads. To flip the direction to "less than," swap 더 for 덜: 이게 저것보다 덜 비싸요 "this is less expensive than that." The 더/덜 pairing with 보다 is detailed on 보다 + 더 / 덜.

The standard can be an abstract idea

The B slot doesn't have to be a physical thing. Two set phrases clamp 보다 onto an abstract noun and are worth learning whole. 생각보다 "than [I] thought" drops in front of almost any adjective, and 무엇보다 "more than anything" pairs with the superlative.

생각보다 is a phrase you'll use daily — 생각보다 맛있어요 "tastier than expected," 생각보다 멀어요 "farther than I thought."

보다 (more than) vs 만큼 (as much as)

보다 is for unequal comparison — one side exceeds the other. When two things are equal in degree, you don't use 보다 at all; you use 만큼 "as much as."

Keep the two apart: 보다 = more/less than (a gap), 만큼 = as much as (a tie). The equality partner has its own page, 만큼: as much as, and the identity comparisons 같다 / 다르다 / 비슷하다 ("the same / different / similar") are on the same-different-similar page.

Common Mistakes

1. Putting 보다 on the subject — which reverses the meaning. This is the cardinal error. If you mean "summer is hotter than winter," 보다 must sit on 겨울.

2. Inserting a separate word for "than" or using a location particle. There is no standalone "than," and 에서 does not mean it.

3. Adding a space before 보다. It's a clitic particle — attach it.

4. Trying to inflect the adjective English-style. The adjective stays plain; 보다 and 더 carry the comparison.

5. Using 보다 when you mean equality. "As X as B" is 만큼, not 보다.

Key Takeaways

• The comparison frame is A [B]보다 더 + adjective — 보다 marks the standard (what A beats), and the adjective stays plain.
• 보다 has no allomorph and takes no space (겨울보다), and English's word order does not transfer: Korean can front the 보다-phrase because the particle, not position, marks the role.
• 더 is optional (보다 already signals comparison); swap it for 덜 to get "less than."
• The killer error is putting 보다 on the subject — 여름보다 겨울이 더 더워요 means the reverse.
• For equal degree use 만큼; the particle mechanics live on the 보다 page.