In this video lesson we'll learn how to say more in Chinese with 更 and how to say the Most in Chinese with 最. We’ll also learn a grammatical sentence structure, which is Chinese Sentence with a "Subject-Predicate" Phrase as the Predicate主谓谓语句.
If we want to say something is more... in Chinese, we can use the Adverb 更. We can say more in Chinese with 更 following this structure:
The Predicate here can be either an Adjective Predicate or a Verb Predicate.
(1) 更 + Adj. Predicate
(2) 更 + Verb Predicate
Verbs used after adverb 更 are usually Stative Verbs that suggest a status or a condition, it’s usually related to people’s feelings or physical status. For example,
We also learned that we can make a comparison in Chinese with 比, and 比 can be used together with 更 as well,
In the above two sentences, using 更 or not does not affect the meaning of the sentence.
We can say the most in Chinese with 最. 最 is an Adverb and it is always used before the Predicate:
Just like Adverb 更, 最 can also be followed by an Adjective Predicate or a Verb Predicate.
(1) 最 + Adj. Predicate
(2) 最 + Verb Predicate
Verbs used after adverb 最 are also usually Stative Verbs.
We’ve learned three types of Predicate before, it could be a Verb Phrase, a Noun Phrase or an Adjective Phrase.
And today we have the fourth type, that’s when the Predicate of the sentence is a “Subject-Predicate” Phrase.
REAL SUBJECT | REAL PREDICATE | ||
subject | predicate | ||
tā 他 he |
shēntǐ 身体 body |
hěn jiànkāng 很健康 very healthy |
。 |
qīzi 妻子 wife |
tōufa 头发 hair |
hěncháng 很长 very long |
。 |
zhàngfu 丈夫 husband |
tóu 头 head |
téng 疼 hurts |
。 |
The Subject in the Subject-Predicate Phrase is usually part of, or related to the Real Subject of the Sentence. Just like in here 身体 is part of 他. His body is part of him.