より – What does Yori mean? Comparing with より
より is a Japanese particle which compares things. You can translate it a handful of ways.
- more than
- instead of
- rather than
So, what does より mean and when do you say it? Let’s take a look.
INDEX
より means More than
You say より most of the time when comparing two things.
象は鼠より重い
Elephants are heavier than mice
English adjectives compare with er attached to the end. Japanese adjectives on the other hand don’t. Instead, Japanese gives us the particle より which tells us which of two things are more.
https://japaneseuniverse.com/2024/02/18/pac-man-in-japaneseconcepts-behind-development-to-global-icon/If we want to be more specific we can add a quantity to the sentence above.
象は鼠より5トン重い
Elephants are 5 tons heavier than mice
Sometimes though, a sentence won’t show you what it is comparing.
より速く走りたいなあ
I want to run faster
When you see this sort of thing より just means more. Who knows specifically what the sentence above means. It could mean your average daily running speed for a race, or if may be referring to running to the grocery store before it closes.
Answering Questions with より
より can also answer questions.
リンゴと梨とどちらが好きですか?
Which do you prefer, apples or pears?
You could simply answer with one fruit. But, if you like both there is a special way you can answer.
梨よりリンゴのほうが好きです
I prefer apples to pears. (I like pears more than apples)
Here, as a side note we say ほう to specify which fruit we prefer. You can actually also answer the sentence without mentioning pears. That is because it is obvious what you are comparing the apple to.
リンゴのほうが好きです
I prefer apples
よりも means Instead of or Rather than
I would rather go out than stay at home
So if you are at home all day and feel like going out you could say this. You could leave off the も but it acts to emphasis the comparison. It could mean that you want to go out to a great degree, or for one reason or another want to make a point about going out.
Here is another example.
I am surprised rather than angry
The kind of sentence above may be said when responding to someone. For example, two people get in an argument over something. One of the people ask the other if they are angry. They respond with the above sentence. This means that they maybe upset but they are thinking more about something that was said which surprised them.
Japanese is a very contextual language. So often you need to understand the situation that something is said to understand the full nuances of the sentence.
何よりも means More than Anything
You can say something is more than anything else with よりも.
- 何よりも – more than anything
- どこよりも – more than anywhere
- いつよりも – more than anytime
- どの人よりも – more than any person
- どの日よりも – more than any other day
Here we have all interrogatives or questions words. Interrogatives are pretty versatile in all the ways you can use them to discuss topics in Japanese.
Use よりは for More than (but not necessarily much more)
This is a bit complex and does not translate word for word. If you add は to より it suggests that what you are comparing are not greatly different.
リンゴよりは梨が好き
I like Apples more than Pears
よりは has a nuance that even though you like apples more, you don’t necessarily like them that much more or even at all.
より is used for comparisons and will come in handy. If you want to know more about comparing things in Japanese, you can look at the word ほど.
This word means less than. With these two words, you can compare almost anything in Japanese.
if you want to learn more Japanese I reviewed a dictionary of grammar series which I personally recommend and use myself.
