Questions & Answers about èr bǐ yī dà.
What does 比 mean in this sentence?
比 is the word used to make a comparison. In this sentence, it means than.
So:
- 二比一大 = Two is bigger than one
- literally: Two, compared with one, is big
A very common pattern is:
A 比 B + adjective
which means:
A is more adjective than B
Examples:
- 他比我高。 = He is taller than me.
- 今天比昨天冷。 = Today is colder than yesterday.
Why is the word order 二 比 一 大 instead of something like 二大比一?
Chinese follows a very regular comparison pattern:
A 比 B + adjective
So in 二比一大:
- 二 = the thing being described
- 比 = than / compared with
- 一 = the thing it is compared to
- 大 = big
So the structure is:
- A: 二
- 比 B: 比一
- adjective: 大
English says A is bigger than B, but Chinese says something closer to A compared with B big.
Why is there no word for is in this sentence?