# Writing is better than speaking



## marvelgirlsam

Hi,

I studied Japanese for many years and got very good at it, but took two years off and forgot most of what I knew (in terms of grammar, anyway).  I am now trying to practise with a friend of mine who is also learning Japanese.  We want to start by writing letters. 

Would someone please help me with this sentence's structure? I am trying to say "Writing is better than speaking." I came up with, "kaku yori mo hanasu hou ga yori ii desu."

I know that I am writing this very in a very amateur way, so feel free to tell me a better way of saying this sentence. Or how I could improve what I already have.

Thank you so much,
~Samantha


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## Wishfull

Hi.

Your Japanese sentence has reverse meaning.

"kaku yori mo hanasu hou ga yori ii desu."
="Speaking is better than writing."

"Writing is better than speaking."
="hasasu yori mo kaku hou ga yori ii desu."

Hope this helps.


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## lammn

Wishfull said:


> "Writing is better than speaking."
> ="hasasu yori mo kaku hou ga yori ii desu."


 
Hi,

Is the second "yori" rather redundant since there is already "yori mo" in the first part of the sentence? 
Or is it a common way to speak in Japanese like that?


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## Wishfull

lammn said:


> Hi,
> 
> Is the second "yori" rather redundant since there is already "yori mo" in the first part of the sentence?
> Or is it a common way to speak in Japanese like that?



Hi.
I think I can explain.

Suppose good-gooder-goodest (instead of good-better-best) is OK in this thread.

"Writing is gooder than speaking."
="hasasu yori mo kaku hou ga yori ii desu."

The first "yori-mo" is "than"
The second "yori" is "--er" of "gooder".
The functions are different.

In other words "yori-yoi" "yori-ii" is "good-er (better)". The comparative-making-particle equivalent word class.


Hope this helps.


edit) You can rephrase the second "yori-" to "sarani-".
And the second "yori" might not be necessary.
Without it, the sentence makes sense, perfectly.
I agree what you said.


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## lammn

Thanks for your reply, Wishfull! 

I wonder if it is common to say "~ yori mo, yori ~"?


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## neouniverse

話すよりも書く方がいいです。
hanasu yori mo kaku hou ga ii desu.


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## lammn

neouniverse said:


> 話すよりも書く方がいいです。
> hanasu yori mo kaku hou ga ii desu.


 
「話すより（も）書くほうがいいです」は自然な日本語だと思いますが、「話すよりも書くほうが*より*いいです」と同じ意味でしょうか。
教えていただけませんか。


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## rukiak

My writing is better than speaking.

話すよりも書くほうが得意です。
hanasu yorimo kaku houga tokui desu.


話すよりも書く方がいいです。sounds ambiguous.
"hasasu yori mo kaku hou ga ii desu" sounds ambiguous.
It quite possibly means "I like writing more than speaking.".


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## Wishfull

OK.
I admit that two "yori" version of mine sounds redundant.
Only one "yori" versions of neouniverse and lammn are much better in this context.

////////
BUT
私の作文よりも、ネオユニバースやラムンのほうがいいです。
私の作文よりも、ネオユニバースやラムンのほうが、よりいいです。
Mmmm... Both are fine to me.  Maybe it is MY dialect or mis-usage.

In my dialect grammar, it seems that;
いいです＝better
よりいいです＝much better.

The second "yori" 's function is emphasizing, I think.


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## neouniverse

lammn said:


> 「話すより（も）書くほうがいいです」は自然な日本語だと思いますが、「話すよりも書くほうが*より*いいです」と同じ意味でしょうか。
> 教えていただけませんか。



I don't think よりいいです makes sense in this sentence 
it should be よりいっそういいです
this means "even more better"


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## lammn

rukiak said:


> 話すよりも書く方がいいです。sounds ambiguous.
> "hasasu yori mo kaku hou ga ii desu" sounds ambiguous.
> It quite possibly means "I like writing more than speaking."


Thanks for the enlightenment! 



rukiak said:


> 話すよりも書くほうが得意です。
> hanasu yorimo kaku houga tokui desu."


I think this sentence has the nuance that the speaker is strong in _both_ speaking and writing, but his writing is _even much better_ than his speaking.

In case the speaker is not good at speaking Japanese at all, but his writing is better than speaking, then, how should one rephrase the Japanese sentence to convey the idea?



Wishfull said:


> In my dialect grammar, it seems that;
> いいです＝better
> よりいいです＝much better.
> 
> The second "yori" 's function is emphasizing, I think.


よりいいです does mean "much better" and I don't think it's dialect.
It just happened that I have not seen its usage together with よりも.


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## rukiak

lammn said:


> I think this sentence has the nuance that the speaker is strong in both speaking and writing,


That's wrong.



lammn said:


> In case the speaker is not good at speaking Japanese at all, but his writing is better than speaking, then, how should one rephrase the Japanese sentence to convey the idea?



Hanasu yorimo kaku hou ga mada mashi desu.?

Hanasu yori mo kaku hou ga umaku dekimasu.?


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## Wishfull

話すよりも書くほうが得意です。=話すよりも書くほうが ( no adverbs)得意です。
話すよりも書くほうが*どちらかというと*得意です。＝話すよりも書く方が（just a little)得意です。
話すよりも書くほうが*はるかに*得意です。＝話すよりも書くほうが（far much)得意です。
話すよりも書くほうが*より*得意です。＝話すよりも書く方が（much)得意です。

話すよりも書くほうがより一層得意です　is correct Japanese, but "一層" might be abbreviated in casual talks.

・・・・・・・・・・・・・
友達に相談しなさいよ。自分ひとりで抱え込んでいるより、よりいい方法がきっと見つかると思うよ。　sounds OK to my ear...


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## saharuna

lammn said:


> I wonder if it is common to say "~ yori mo, yori ~"?


こんにちはlammnさん
When it comes to usage of 「よりも」and「より」, 
it's a little emphatic way of
「よりも] than 「より」.

三省堂 大辞林を参照 ：(日本語ですみません)
格助詞「より」に係助詞(ついた語に意味を添えて強調するもの)「も」の付いたもの
格助詞「より」のやや(a little)強意的(emphatic) 用法。


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## neouniverse

oh, it should be よりよい instead of よりいい because
よりよい is the correct way.
いい is like, a more "slang" way of saying よい


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## Wishfull

neouniverse said:


> oh, it should be よりよい instead of よりいい because
> よりよい is the correct way.
> いい is like, a more "slang" way of saying よい



Yes.
You're correct.
I thought about it from the beginning of this thread.

What you said is correct indeed, but I would prefer いい to よい in most casual talks.
This is a very delicate matter.
In some context, よい　might even be offensive......

それでよいですか 
それでいいですか
Mmmm.　This is too delicate to explain for learners.
And there must be local area differences.


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## lammn

みなさん、説明してくれてありがとうございました。

I still have a problem and shall be glad if anyone would clarify:



Wishfull said:


> 話すよりも書くほうが得意です。


 
Base on the above quote, is it true that one *cannot *tell whether the speaker's Japanese speaking ability is good or bad?


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## Wishfull

lammn said:


> みなさん、説明してくれてありがとうございました。
> 
> I still have a problem and shall be glad if anyone would clarify:
> 話すよりも書くほうが得意です。
> Base on the above quote, is it true that one *cannot *tell whether the speaker's Japanese speaking ability is good or bad?



Hi.
Yes, it is true. We cannot tell.

It's easy.  For example,
夏目漱石（a famous writer, a genius of language)は、 話すより書くほうが得意でした。

In this context, I think he could speak very well, much better than me.
I think his ability of both speaking and writing were much better than most of Japanese people.  

Yet, his ability of writing was better than his ability of speaking. It is just a matter of comparative degree.
Not the absolute one.

You see? It's easy, isn't it?


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## lammn

I see.  Thank you!


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