# Comparison (more than, as many as)



## binary_death

Hello everybody!

I'm trying to understand what happens with comparisons in different languages around the world.

There are a few simple examples that I'd like you to translate into your mother tongue and, if possible, to explain a little about its structure.

-You have more apples than him. 
-You have five more apples than him.
-I want more apples.
-You have as many apples as him.
--------------
-He talks more than you about himself.
-He talks as much as you about himself.
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Thank you in advance!


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## bibax

Czech:


Ty máš *více* jablek *než* on _(nom.)_. = You have *more* apples *than* he _(= him)_. 

Ty máš o _(prep.)_ pět jablek *více* *než* on. = You have five *more* apples *than* he.

Já chci *více* jablek. = I want *more* apples.

Ty máš *stejně *(stejné množství) jablek *jako* on. = You have *as many *_(equal amount of)_ apples *as* he.

On o sobě mluví více *než* ty. = He talks more *than *you about himself.

On o sobě mluví tolik (tak často) *jako *ty. = He talks as much (as often) *as* you about himself.

Ty jsi větší *než* on. = You are taller *than* he.

Ty jsi (stejně) velký *jako* on. = You are (equally) tall *as* he.


N.B. The sentence 1 and 3 have exactly the same structure like the corresponding English ones. The personal pronoun (subject of the sentence) can be omitted. Word order can change.


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## arielipi

Hebrew:

-You have more apples than him.  יש לך יותר תפוחים ממנו\ה yesh lecha/lach (m/f) yoter tapukhim mimeno/mimena (m/f) you (have) got more apples than him/her.
-You have five more apples than him. יש לך חמישה תפוחים יותר ממנו\ה ... khamisha tapukhim.... you have five apples more...
-I want more apples. This one is tricky, if you want more apples as in to eat then itll be *) if its to have more apples then itll be **)
*) אני רוצה עוד תפוחים ani rotze/rotza (m/f) od tapukhim.
**) אני רוצה יותר תפוחים ani rotze/a yoter...
-You have as many apples as him. יש לך אותה כמות של תפוחים כמוהו\כמוה yesh lecha/lach ota kamut shel tapukhim kamohu/kamoha (m/f). you have the same quantity of apples as he/she has
--------------
-He talks more than you about himself. הוא מדבר על עצמו יותר ממך hu medaber al atzmo yoter mimcha.
-He talks as much as you about himself. הוא מדבר על עצמו כמוך hu... atzmo kamocha.
-------------


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## DearPrudence

In *French*


...................................................................................................................................-You have *more *apples than him.Tu as *plus de* pommes que lui.-You have *five more* apples than him.Tu as *cinq *pommes *de plus* que lui.-I want *more *apples.Je veux *plus de* pommes.-You have *as many* apples *as*him.Tu as *autant de* pommes *que*lui-He talks *more than you* about himself.Il parle *plus* de lui-même *que* toi.-He talks *as much as you* about himself.Il parle *autant* de lui-même *que* toi.But you forgot:-You are tall*er than* him.Tu es *plus *grand *que* lui.- You are *as *tall *as* him.Tu es *aussi *grand *que* lui.


And the way to pronounce "*plus*" is really a nightmare by the way! 
*plus (prononciation)*


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## rusita preciosa

Since Russian has declensions, the structure of the sentences is a bit different:

-You have more apples than him
- *у тебя больше яблок, чем у него*
lit. *to you [there is] more of apples than to him *(“*there is*” is omitted in these cases, but is understood)

-You have five more apples, than him.
-*у тебя на пять яблок больше, чем у него*
lit. *to you on five moreof apples, than to him*

-I want more apples.
- *я хочу больше яблок*
lit. *I want more of apples*

-You have as many apples as him.
-* у тебя столько же яблок, сколько у него*
lit. *to you same of apples, how much to him*

-He talks more than you about himself.
- *он говоpит о себе больше,чем ты*
lit. *he talks of him more,than you*

-He talks as much as you about himself.
*- он говорит о себе столько же, сколько ты*
lit. *he talks of him same, how much you*


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## bibax

rusita preciosa said:


> -You have as many apples as him.
> -* у тебя столько же яблок, сколько у него*
> lit. *to you same of apples, how much to him*


I should translate the Russian pair *столько - сколько* by *so/that many - how many*.

Such pairs are quite common in the European languages:

quot - tot (Latin)
kolik - tolik (Czech)
сколько - столько _skoľko - stoľko_ (Russian)

In Czech we can also say:

Ty máš (právě) *tolik* jablek, *kolik* jablek má on. = You have (just) *so many* apples, *how many* apples has he.

This longer structure is commonly used in mathematics.


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## germanbz

Spanish (Spain).

-You have more apples than him.        (Tu) Tienes más manzanas que él.
-You have five more apples than him.   (Tu) Tienes  cinco manzanas más que él.
-I want more apples.                            (Yo)Quiero más manzanas.
-You have as many apples as him.       (Tu) Tienes tantas manzanas como él.
--------------
-He talks more than you about himself.       El habla más que tú sobre él mismo. / El habla sobre él mismo más que tú.
-He talks as much as you about himself.      El habla tanto como tú sobre él mismo. / El habla sobre él mismo tanto como tú.


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## rusita preciosa

bibax said:


> I should translate the Russian pair *столько - сколько* by *so/that many - how many*.






EDIT: the same could be also translated as *so/that much *- *how much* for uncountable nouns (in Russian *much* and *many* are the same word)


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## apmoy70

In Greek:

You have more apples than him.
*«Έχεις περισσότερα μήλα από αυτόν»*
['eçis peri'sotera 'mila a'po a'fton]
*«Περισσότερα»* [peri'sotera] (pl. nom. neut.) is the synthetic comparative of neut. adj. *«περισσό»* [peri'so] --> _excessive_.
You have five more apples than him.
Again here, we use the synthetic comparative *«περισσότερα»* [peri'sotera] (pl. nom. neut.).
I want more apples.
Idem.
You have as many apples as him.
*«Έχεις τόσα μήλα όσα κι αυτός»*.
['eçis 'tosa 'mila 'osa ci a'ftos]
lit. "you have as many apples as he (has)".
The structure here is «τόσα» ['tosa] (neut. pl. demonstrative pronoun)...«όσα» ['osa] (neut. pl. relative pronoun) 
He talks more than you about himself.
*«Μιλά **περισσότερο** από σένα γιά τον εαυτό του»*.
[mi'la peri'sotero a'po 'sena ʝa ton ea'fto tu]
*«Περισσότερο»* here is a  adverb. In English: "He talks excessively for himself than you".
He talks as much as you about himself.
*«Μιλά **όσο** κι εσύ γιά τον εαυτό του».*
[mi'la 'oso ci e'si  ʝa ton ea'fto tu]
*«Όσο» *['oso] here is a relative adv.


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## binary_death

Wow! What a wonderful guys here. Thank you so so much 
You all have given very detailed answers, which will help in my research for sure. 

But don't stop yet, the more examples, the better.


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## Rallino

In Turkish

You have more apples than him. - Senin, ondan daha fazla elman var. (Your, from him more abundant your apple exists.)
You have five more apples than him. - Senin, ondan beş tane daha fazla elman var. (Your, from him five [counter word] more abundant your apple exists.)
I want more apples. - Daha fazla elma istiyorum. (More abundant apple I want.)
You have as many apples as him. - Senin, onun kadar çok elman var. (Your, his until many your apple exists.)
He talks more than you about himself. - O, kendisi hakkında senden daha fazla/çok konuşuyor. (He, himself about from you more abundant/many speaks)
He talks as much as you about himself. - O, kendisi hakkında senin kadar fazla/çok konuşuyor. (He, himself about your until abundant/many speaks.)

Threads like this make me feel like I talk Gibberish every day…


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## binary_death

^Just o_o. Turkish seems to work very differently.

I suppose that "Senin" is in Genitive and "ondan" in "Ablative". That makes sense to me because it's something like Japanese, however I can't understand that "You" in Genitive...

I would appreciate it if you could explain only the first phrase a little more


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## Rallino

That's because your example features the verb _to have_. Turkish doesn't have the concept of _possessing_. If you have an apple, you say: My apple exists.
And while at that, I should also add that putting a possessive adjective (_your_ in this case) doesn't cut it; the noun (_apple_ in this case) needs to get a special suffix as well, which is _-n_ for _elma _(apple).

So, Senin elman = Your apple-your.
You can omit the 'senin' now, it's not necessary unless you want to stress it in order to compare with someone else, as in the first sentence.

Senin elman var = Your apple-your exists (= You have an apple)
And then you add "more than him" in between, that's how that first sentence comes to life.


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## binary_death

Mmm... I see, it's somewhat like an explicative clause that means "your apples, which are more than his, exist". Well, at least that's how I've understood it.

I came across a very interesting paper in the internet about turkish and english comparisons: http://www.ilg.uni-stuttgart.de/sub13/hofstetter.pdf
Perhaps it'll be useful for someone.

Thank you Rallino


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## bibax

Unfortunately you have chosen the verb _*to have*_ (_"you *have* more apples than him"_). Even some IE languages (Latin, Russian, ...) doesn't use the verb _to have_ in such context (although they have it). It makes things more complex. Maybe another verb would be better. The sentence "You see more apples than he" has more similar structure in Russian than "You have more ...".

BTW, there is a discussion "than he vs. than him" in the English Only forum. I was not sure what was correct.


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## binary_death

^Yes... I realised it when people started to post. For example, It's my understanding that in finnish to express posession you say "An apple is with me" xD
But anyway, I find it funny to see how to say the same in many languages.


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## arielipi

^I would like to add i too had difficulties with bringing an exact translation, and that another verb would be better.


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## binary_death

^Ok, how about changing it by "to see", how bibax said? I'm going to edit my post so that people use "to see" from now on.

EDIT: Oh, I can't! Maybe Wordreference allows you only to edit recent posts...


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## arielipi

^thatll solve the problem indeed.


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## bibax

There is another problem with "you see" vs. "you are seeing". Many (probably most) languages do not distinguish it (Czech uses adverbs like just, now, just now, etc. for distinction). However we can neglect the difference.

In Czech we can simply replace the verb "máš" (= you have) by "vidíš" (= you see/are seeing) as both verbs are transitive:

Ty máš více jablek než on. = You have more apples than he.
Ty vidíš více jablek než on. = You see more apples than he.

The modified sentence will have the same structure in Russian:

Ты видишь *больше* яблок, *чем* он. _= _You see *more* apples(,) *than* he.
_(ty vidiš boľše jablok, čem on)_


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## ThomasK

Dutch (Nederlands): 
-You have more apples than him. - Jij hebt *meer *appels *dan *hij
-You have five more apples than him. --- Je hebt vijf appels *meer dan *hij 
-I want more apples. Ik wil *meer *appels
-You have as many apples as him. Je hebt *evenveel *appels *als *hij. 
--------------
-He talks more than you about himself. Hij spreekt *meer *over zichzelf *dan *jij. 
-He talks as much as you about himself. Hij spreekt *evenveel *over zichzelf *als *jij.


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## Tonky

binary_death said:


> That makes sense to me because it's something like Japanese


Sounds like you already know Japanese, but I'll still add them anyways for reference.
(BTW, "see" will have a bigger problem in Japanese, as you may have realized. "See" sounds like you are having some VA test with 見えます and just plain "見ます" would not make sense. Maybe "eat" if it does not cause issues on other languages? )

-You have more apples than him.あなたは彼よりももっとりんごがあります。
As for you him than more apples exist. 
あなたは彼よりももっとりんごを持っています。(but it sounds more like "carrying in your arms" in this context.)
You him than more apples have.​-You have five more apples than him.あなたは彼よりりんごが５つ多いです。
As for you him than apples 5 more.
あなたは彼よりりんごを５つ多く持っています。
You him than apples 5 more have.​-I want more apples.私はもっとりんごが欲しいです。​As for me,more apples want(ed).​-You have as many apples as him.あなたは彼と同じくらいりんごがあります。
As for you, him with same about apples exist.
あなたは彼と同じくらいりんごを持っています。
You him with same about apples have.​-He talks more than you about himself.彼はあなたよりももっと自分の事を話す。
He you than more self of thing talks.​-He talks as much as you about himself.彼はあなたと同じくらい自分の事を話す。
He you with same about self of thing talks.​


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## binary_death

Tonky said:


> Sounds like you already know Japanese, but I'll still add them anyways for reference.
> (BTW, "see" will have a bigger problem in Japanese, as you may have realized. "See" sounds like you are having some VA test with 見えます and just plain "見ます" would not make sense. Maybe "eat" if it does not cause issues on other languages? )



Thank you Tonky =) I'm actually a Japanese student, that's why I could get a rough idea, but your examples are still very helpful because you're a native!

By the way, could you explain me why do you use "くらい"? Would the phrase work without it?
I know indeed that it means "about, approximately", but I can't see the approximation anywhere. It isn't the first time I see this word in Japanese with no meaning of "about"...


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## Tonky

binary_death said:


> By the way, could you explain me why do you use "くらい"? Would the phrase work without it?
> I know indeed that it means "about, approximately", but I can't see the approximation anywhere. It isn't the first time I see this word in Japanese with no meaning of "about"...


同じくらい＝*about* the same (amount/size)
If you want, you could say ～と同じ数だけ(the same amount as～） but only for countables.
What is this example with くらい with no meaning of approximation? maybe 暗い(dark)? 位(position)?


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## Kartof

Bulgarian
-You have more apples than him. - (Ти) имаш ябълки повече от него. _(You) have apples more from him._
-You have five more apples than him. - (Ти) имаш пет ябълки повече от него. _(You) have five apples more from him._
-I want more apples. (Аз) искам повече ябълки. _(I) want more apples._
-You have as many apples as him. - (Ти) имаш толкова ябълки колкото него. _(You) have that amount apples as him._

-He talks more than you about himself. - (Той) говори за себе си повече от теб(е). _(He) talks for self his more from you._
-He talks as much as you about himself. - (Той) говори за себе си колкото теб(е). _(He) talks for self his as you._

I'll also point out that the word "колкото" is literally "how much-the" though it means "as". 
All of the subject pronouns are optional.  Тебe, the long informal direct object pronoun, can be spelled/pronounced with our without the final 'е'.


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## binary_death

Tonky said:


> 同じくらい＝*about* the same (amount/size)
> If you want, you could say ～と同じ数だけ(the same amount as～） but only for countables.
> What is this example with くらい with no meaning of approximation? maybe 暗い(dark)? 位(position)?



I wonder if I could say something like: 彼もあなたも同じくらい自分の事を話す。

Does it sound nice to you?


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## Tonky

^Yes, it sounds decent.


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## binary_death

^Thanks  Turkish and Japanese are the most different languages from English and Spanish for now.

Well, how many examples, how many languages to analyze! Each family is an entire world.


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## sakvaka

*Finnish*:

With approximate, literal translations.

Sinulla on enemmän omenoita kuin hänellä. = You have more apples than he (does).
Sinulla on viisi omenaa enemmän kuin hänellä. = You have five apples more than he (does).
Haluan lisää omenoita. = I want more apples.
Sinulla on yhtä monta omenaa kuin hänellä. = You have as many apples as he (has).

Hän puhuu itsestään enemmän kuin sinä. / Hän puhuu enemmän itsestään kuin sinä. = He speaks of himself more than you.
Hän puhuu itsestään yhtä paljon kuin sinä. = He speaks of himself as much as you.

"Much /  a lot" is "paljon" in Finnish, and its comparative and superlative declension is:

*paljon, enemmän (lisää), eniten

*"Lisää" often replaces "enemmän", but it cannot be used in comparisons.

_Kerro toki lisää! = Kerro toki enemmän! _Please, do tell more!
_Tarvitsemme lisää kovalevytilaa. = Tarvitsemme enemmän kovalevytilaa. _= We need more hard disk space.

But:
_Hevonen syö enemmän kuin koira.  _A horse eats more than a dog (does).(*not* *Hevonen syö lisää kuin koira)

Yhtä...kuin = as ... as
kuin = than / as


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## mataripis

I use the Tagalog form.  1.) You have more apples than him. ( lamang ang bilang ng mansanas mo kaysa kanya.)   2.) You have 5 more apples than him.( Lamang ka ng limang mansanas kaysa kanya.)   3.) I want more apples. (Ibig ko nang marami pang mansanas.)   4.)You have as many apples as him.( Magsing dami ang taglay nyong mansanas.)    5.)He talks more than you about himself. (Marami siyang sinasabi tungkol sa iyo sa kanyang pagpapakilala/pagpapahayag.) 6.) He talks as much as you about himself. ( Sing dami ang nasasabi nya sa iyo at sa kanyang sarili sa kanyang pagpapahayag.)


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## HYCHIN

Cantonese:

(The verb "have" causes some problems in the first two sentences.)
1. You have more apples than him. 你 蘋果 多過 佢。"You apple more than him"
The word 過 is a suffix. For example: Many 多 - More than 多過, Good 好 - Better than 好過.
The Cantonese "多過 more than" is used as a verb. (In Chinese, many adjectives can be used like verbs. No linking verb is needed. These Chinese adjectives are called _stative verbs_.) It takes the standard of comparison as the object so it is a transitive verb.
The sentence structure is [you | [apple | [more than | him]]]. On the first level, "you" is the subject and "apple more than him" is a subject-predicative structure. In Chinese, a Subj-Pred structure can be a sentence alone, or appear in a larger Subj-Pred structure as the predicative.

2. You have five more apples than him. 你 多 佢 五個蘋果。 "You more than him five apple"
The verb is 多, without the suffix 過. The verb takes two objects. The first object is the standard of comparison, and the second is a quantified noun phrase, telling "by how many". The sentence structure is Subject+Verb+Object1+Object2.
You can also include the suffix, but then the sentence will sound less natural.

3. I want more apples. 我 要 多啲 蘋果。 "I want more apple"
The word order and sentence structure in Cantonese and in English are identical.
The word 啲 is a suffix. Using 啲 instead of 過 will reduce the number of objects by one: the standard of comparison is not needed.

4. You have as many apples as him. 你 有 佢 咁多 蘋果。 "You have him as many apple"
Unlike the first two sentences, the verb "have" here is translated as the transitive verb 有.
The sentence structure is [you | [have | [[him | as many] | apple]]].
The noun phrase is quantified by 佢咁多. (To see this quantification, use other quantifiers to form 你有三個蘋果 "you have three apple".) 咁 is loosely equal to "as".

5. He talks more than you about himself. 佢 講 佢自己 多過 你。 "He talk himself more than you".
In Chinese, the Subj-Pred structure can also be use as the subject of another larger Subj-Pred structure.
The sentence structure is [[He | [talk | himself]] | [more than | you]].
The suffix 過 is used and the object is the standard of comparison.

6. He talks as much as you about himself. 佢 講 佢自己 好似 你 咁多。 "He talk himself is-like you as much".
The verb is 好似 (is like). It is like a linking verb. 你咁多 quantifies the subject.
The sentence put the idea in this way: "(The amount of) his talking about himself is like you as much."


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## Ёж!

rusita preciosa said:


> Since Russian has declensions, the structure of the sentences is a bit different:
> 
> -You have more apples than him
> - *у тебя больше яблок, чем у него*
> lit. *to you [there is] more of apples than to him *


A little addition: it's more like 'at you' and 'at him'.


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## Encolpius

*Hungarian *

-You have more apples than him.--- Több almád van, mint neki. 
-You have five more apples than him. --- Öttel több almád van, mint neki. 
-I want more apples. --- Több almát kérek. 
-You have as many apples as him. --- Annyi almád van, mint neki. 
--------------
-He talks more than you about himself. --- Többet beszél magáról, mint te. 
-He talks as much as you about himself. --- Annyit beszél magáról, mint te. 
-------------


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## ger4

ThomasK said:


> Dutch (Nederlands):
> -You have *more* apples *than* him. - Jij hebt *meer *appels *dan *hij
> -You have five* more* apples *than* him. - Je hebt vijf appels *meer dan *hij
> -I want *more* apples. - Ik wil *meer *appels
> -You have *as* many apples *as* him. - Je hebt *evenveel *appels *als *hij.
> --------------
> -He talks *more than* you about himself. - Hij spreekt *meer *over zichzelf *dan *jij.
> -He talks *as* much *as* you about himself. - Hij spreekt *evenveel *over zichzelf *als *jij.


Interesting to compare the use of *as/als* in English, Dutch and German:

-You have more apples *than* him. - Du hast *mehr *Äpfel *als *er.
-You have five more apples *than* him. - Du hast fünf Äpfel *mehr als *er.
-I want *more* apples. - Ich will *mehr *Äpfel.
-You have *as* many apples *as* him. - Du hast *ebenso/genauso/so viele *Äpfel *wie *er.
--------------
-He talks *more than* you about himself. - Er spricht *mehr *über sich (selbst) *als *du.
-He talks *as* much *as* you about himself. - Er spricht *ebenso/genauso/so viel *über sich (selbst) *wie *du.


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## Messquito

-You have more apples than him. 
你(有)的蘋果比他多
你有比他更多的蘋果
-You have five more apples than him.
你(有)的蘋果比他多五顆
你有比他多五顆的蘋果
-I want more apples.
我要更多蘋果
我要多點蘋果
-You have as many apples as him.
你(有)的蘋果跟他一樣多
你有跟他一樣多的蘋果
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-He talks more than you about himself.
他比你(還)會講他自己
-He talks as much as you about himself.
他跟你一樣會講自己
-------------


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