Korean Grammar Bank

HOW TO DO COMPARISONS IN KOREAN

Making comparisons in Korean is essential and you’ll probably need to use it earlier than you expect.

Today we will see some basic structures with the easiest comparative and superlative words:

더 : more / 덜 : less / 보다 : than

IMPORTANT COMPARISONS WORDS

Unlike English, we do not need to change the original form of the adjective to make comparisons.

Instead, just put 더 or 덜 in front of the adjective you want to talk about.

For example:

KOREANENGLISH
이 지갑은더 비싸요.This wallet is more expensive.
겨울에 날씨가더 추워요.The weather is colder in winter.
정크 푸드는 건강에덜 유익해요.Junk food is less healthy.

In addition, if you would like to say ‘A is more than B’, specifically comparing two objects, simply add ‘보다’ and replace A and B with the objects. More in the next chapter!

A IS MORE ‘X’ THAN B

As stated above, if you would like to say ‘A is more than B’, specifically comparing two objects, simply add ‘보다’ and replace A and B with the objects, referring to the sentence below:

PATTERN

A + (이)가 / (은)는 + B + 보다 더 + adjective

For example:

KOREANENGLISH
노란 공이파란공보다 더 커요.The yellow ball is bigger than the blue ball.
모자가티셔츠보다 더 비싸요.The hat is more expensive than the t-shirt.
이 고추는할라피뇨보다 덜 매워요.This pepper is less spicy than jalapenos
그 책은새 책보다 더 두꺼워요.The book is thicker than a new book.
However, in Korean, there is a tendency to use ‘더’ more often when making comparisons
정크 푸드는 건강에 덜 유익해요.→정크 푸드는 건강에 더 해로워요.
Junk food is less healthy.Junk food is more harmful to health.
이 고추는 할라피뇨보다 덜 매워요.→할라피뇨가 이 고추보다 더 매워요.
This pepper is less spicy than jalapenos.Jalapeno is spicier than this pepper.

A IS AS ‘X’ AS B

This structure is a little bit more advanced that the previous one.

To say A is as adjective as B you need to use the following pattern:

PATTERN

A + (이)가 / (은)는 + B + 만큼 + adjective

In this case, we do not use ‘더’, ‘덜’, and ‘보다’ in the sentence.

For example:

KOREANENGLISH
지수는미나만큼키가커요.Jisu is as tall as Mina.
그 책은새 책만큼 두꺼워요.The book is thicker than a new book.
이 고추는할라피뇨만큼 매워요.This pepper is as spicy as jalapenos.

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FAQs

How to say “more” in a Korean comparison?

More in Korean is 더.

To make a comparison in the Korean language with “more”, put 더 in front of the adjective you want to talk about.

Examples:

이 지갑은 더 비싸요. This wallet is more expensive.

겨울에 날씨가 더 추워요. The weather is colder in winter.

How to say “less than” in Korean?

Less in Korean is 덜.

To make a comparison in the Korean language with “more”, put 덜 in front of the adjective you want to talk about.

Examples:

정크 푸드는 건강에 덜 유익해요. Junk food is less healthy.

Is Korean SVO or SOV?

Korean is a SOV language, meaning the basic language structure is:

Subject + Object + Verb

Japanese, Mongolian and Turkish are also SOV languages for example.

English is a SVO language: subject + verb + object

How to make negative sentences in Korean?

Expressing ‘not’. For verbs and adjectives. Add ‘안’ or ‘-지 않아요’ in front of them.

Example: 지수는 초콜릿을 좋아하지 않아요.

Expressing ‘cannot’. For verbs only. Add 못’or ‘-지 못해요’ in front of the verb.

Example: 저는 수영을 못 해요.

Expressing ‘do not know’. The word ‘to know’ in Korean is ‘알다’. However, we rarely apply the methods of case 1 and case 2 for this word. Instead, we use the word ‘몰라요’

Example: 나는 그녀의 연락처를 몰라요.

Expressing ‘not have’. When we make a sentence to talk about the absence of something, we would use ‘없어요’.

Example: 공원에 사람들이 거의 없어요.

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Learn more about the Korean negative form here.

What are some Korean sentence structure?

Here are the 3 most basic Korean sentence structure:

#1 || Subject + Verb

#2 || Subject + Object + Verb

#3 || Subject + Noun / Adjective

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