Learn Hardcore Chinese: Zài wàiguó liúxué yí nián de xuéfèi bǐ zài zhè gè chéngshì shàng dàxué guì hěn duō. - A year of tuition for studying abroad is much more expensive than going to university in this city.

在Zài　外国wàiguó　留学liúxué　一yí　年nián　的de　学费xuéfèi　比bǐ　在zài　这zhè　个gè　城市chéngshì　上shàng　大学dàxué　贵guì　很多hěn　duō。Zài wàiguó liúxué yí nián de xuéfèi bǐ zài zhè gè chéngshì shàng dàxué guì hěn duō.

A year of tuition for studying abroad is much more expensive than going to university in this city.

Breakdown of Zài wàiguó liúxué yí nián de xuéfèi bǐ zài zhè gè chéngshì shàng dàxué guì hěn duō.

Used when counting nouns or when specifying a specific instance of a noun.

There are also classifiers for people, for bound items such as books and magazines, for cups/glasses, etc.

The classifier 个 is a general one that can be used for any of these.

上大学shàngdàxuéshàngdàxué

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Questions & Answers about Zài wàiguó liúxué yí nián de xuéfèi bǐ zài zhè gè chéngshì shàng dàxué guì hěn duō.

Why does the sentence start with 在外国? In English we’d usually say “The tuition for one year of studying abroad…”, not “In a foreign country…”.

Chinese often puts location and time phrases at the beginning of the sentence or clause.

在外国留学一年的学费
literally: “the tuition of studying abroad in a foreign country for one year”

Structure:

在外国 – in a foreign country
留学一年 – study abroad for one year
的学费 – the tuition (modified by what comes before 的)

So the whole chunk 在外国留学一年 comes first as a modifier to 学费, and the sentence naturally begins with 在 because the subject itself starts with a location phrase. This is very typical in Chinese noun phrases.

Why is 在 used twice (在外国… 比在这个城市…)? Could we drop one of them?

Each 在 introduces a different location phrase:

在外国留学一年的学费 – the tuition for studying in a foreign country
比在这个城市上大学贵很多 – more expensive than going to university in this city

You generally:

need the first 在 to show the place where you study abroad.
need the second 在 if you want to clearly express “in this city”.

If you removed the second one:

✗ 比这个城市上大学贵很多 – sounds wrong/unclear (it could be misread as “compare this city’s going-to-university…”)

So both 在 are doing their own job and are not redundant.

What exactly does 留学 mean? How is it different from 学习 or 上学?

留学 (liúxué) = to study abroad
- 留 here has the idea of “stay” or “reside”.
- So 留学 specifically means going to another country to study.
学习 (xuéxí) = to study/learn in general (anywhere).
上学 (shàngxué) = to attend school (usually primary/secondary, but can be general).

In this sentence, the contrast is:

在外国留学 – studying abroad
vs.
在这个城市上大学 – attending university in this city

So 留学 is used because we are explicitly talking about overseas study.

What is the role of 的 after 一年 in 在外国留学一年的学费?

Here 的 turns the whole preceding phrase into a modifier for 学费:

在外国留学一年 – to study abroad in a foreign country for one year
在外国留学一年的 – the (something) that is “studying abroad in a foreign country for one year”
在外国留学一年的学费 – the tuition for doing that

So grammatically it is:

[在外国] [留学] [一年] 的 [学费]
location + action + duration + 的 + noun

This 的 is the standard marker that turns a verb phrase into an adjective-like phrase modifying a noun.

Could we move 的 earlier, like 在外国留学的一年学费? Does that work?

在外国留学的一年学费 is grammatically possible, but it usually means:

“one year’s tuition for studying abroad”

i.e. 一年 is modifying 学费 directly.

The original 在外国留学一年的学费 tends to emphasize:

“the tuition for one year of studying abroad”

In practice, both are understandable, but:

在外国留学一年的学费 sounds more natural and is the common pattern:
- verb phrase + time duration + 的
  - noun
- e.g. 工作三年的经验 – experience from working for three years

Why isn’t 学费 repeated after 在这个城市上大学? Shouldn’t it be symmetrical?

The fully explicit version would be:

在外国留学一年的学费比在这个城市上大学一年的学费贵很多。

Chinese often omits repeated, obvious parts. In this sentence:

The second 一年的学费 is understood, so it’s dropped:
- 在这个城市上大学 (一年的学费) – “the (one-year) tuition for going to university in this city”

This type of omission is very common and natural in Chinese once the comparison is clear from context.

How does the 比 structure work here? What is the basic pattern?

The basic comparative pattern is:

A 比 B + Adjective (+ degree word)

In this sentence:

A = 在外国留学一年的学费
B = 在这个城市上大学 (的学费)
Adjective = 贵
Degree word = 很多

So:

在外国留学一年的学费比在这个城市上大学贵很多。
= “The tuition for one year of studying abroad is much more expensive than going to university in this city.”

You cannot say A 是比 B 贵很多; just use A 比 B + Adj without 是 in a simple comparative.

Why do we say 贵很多, not just 贵 or 很贵?

贵 – “expensive / more expensive” (in a 比 sentence, it already implies “more expensive”)
很贵 – “very expensive” (but doesn’t by itself say “than X”)
贵很多 – “a lot more expensive / much more expensive”

Here 很多 is a degree complement specifying how much more expensive:

贵一点 – a bit more expensive
贵多了 / 贵得多 – much more expensive
贵很多 – also “much more expensive”

So 贵很多 adds the sense of “by a lot / much” to the comparison.

Why is there no 是 before 贵很多? In English we say “is much more expensive”.

In Chinese, adjectives can directly function as predicates without 是:

这个很贵。 – This is expensive.
这本书比那本书便宜。 – This book is cheaper than that one.

The 比 sentence already has a verb-like structure:

A 比 B + Adjective

So you say:

学费比在这个城市上大学贵很多。

not:

✗ 学费是比在这个城市上大学贵很多。 (this sounds unnatural in simple comparison)

What does 上大学 mean? Why use 上 instead of something like 去大学?

上大学 (shàng dàxué) is an established phrase meaning “attend university / go to college (as a student)”.
- 上学 – attend school
- 上课 – attend class

So:

上 + (type of school / class) = to attend that school/class as a student.

去大学 just means “go to the university (physically go there)” and doesn’t specifically imply being enrolled as a student. In this sentence, we’re comparing tuition, so 上大学 is the natural choice.

Why do we say 这个城市 with 个? Could we also say 这座城市?

个 is the default, most common measure word, so:

这个城市 – this city (neutral, very common, works in almost all contexts)

座 is a more specific measure word for large, fixed structures (buildings, bridges, cities, mountains):

这座城市 – this city (a bit more literary or descriptive)

Both 这个城市 and 这座城市 are grammatically correct here.
这个城市 sounds the most neutral and is perfectly natural in everyday speech.

What exactly does 一年 modify here? Could we put 一年 somewhere else?

In 在外国留学一年的学费, 一年 modifies the action of studying:

“the tuition for studying abroad for one year”

That is:

在外国留学一年 – study abroad in a foreign country for one year
Then this whole thing modifies 学费 with 的.

You could also say:

在外国留学的学费，一年比在这个城市上大学的学费贵很多。
– “The tuition for studying abroad, for one year, is much more expensive than the (one-year) tuition for going to university in this city.”

But that changes the rhythm and is less compact. The original sentence is smoother and very typical:

[在外国留学一年] 的学费 …

Why is 一 pronounced yí in 一年 (yí nián) instead of yī?

一 (yī) changes its tone (tone sandhi) depending on what follows:

Before a 4th-tone syllable → yí (2nd tone)
- 一年 (yí nián)
- 一块 (yí kuài)
Before a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd tone syllable → yì (4th tone)
- 一个 (yí gè) is actually often yí ge in casual speech, but in textbooks you’ll see yí gè because 个 is 4th tone; in practice people often neutralize 个’s tone.
- 一条 (yì tiáo) ( tiáo is 2nd tone so the textbook rule gives yì )
When said in isolation or for emphasis → yī (1st tone)

So in 一年, because 年 (nián) is 2nd tone, many teachers/textbooks still mark yì nián, but in real speech you’ll commonly hear yí nián; both may appear depending on the tone-sandhi rule set being used. The important point is: tone of 一 often changes in connected speech, and yí nián is natural.