# I like oranges more than apples



## Arabus

你们好,

Sorry about this question, but I am still fresh in Chinese and I don't know much:

橙子和苹果，我更喜欢橙子。

Is this the standard way to say "I like oranges more than apples" in Mandarin?

谢谢，


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## viajero_canjeado

Sounds good, but maybe 比較喜歡(Ｘ）is more common. In the sentence you gave, I might want to add a 吃 as well:

蘋果跟柳橙，我比較喜歡吃蘋果。


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## SuperXW

Your sentence is good. There are other ways. For example: 
比起苹果，我更喜欢橙子。
Literally: Compair to apples, I prefer oranges.

There are still many other ways to express it. Some prepositions are very flexible.
e.g. 比起苹果=跟苹果比=和苹果比=和苹果比较=和苹果比起来... etc.

Note: viajero used the word 柳橙 which could be a Taiwanese standard. In Mainland China it's usually 橙子. Plus, 更喜欢 is also common in the mainland.


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## Arabus

Thank you. Thanks SuperXW.

So it seems from your examples that 比 is being used as a _post_position after 苹果, if I understand you correctly:

跟苹果比，我更喜欢橙子.... ?

Is this right?


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## SuperXW

Arabus said:


> Thank you. Thanks SuperXW.
> 
> So it seems from your examples that 比 is being used as a _post_position after 苹果, if I understand you correctly:
> 
> 跟苹果比，我更喜欢橙子.... ?
> 
> Is this right?


The format you are asking is: 
(A) 跟 (B) 比, ... 
跟 can be replaced by 同/和/与 etc. (A) can be skipped if appears later in the main sentence.
In these cases, yes, 比 is put afterward (B). I don't know if we can call it a postposition though.  

As you have noticed, the Chinese comparing pattern "more than..." is often made OUTSIDE the main sentence "I like...", to be a clause. 
If I must try to make a single sentence to fit your "I like oranges more than apples." That should be "我喜欢橙子多过苹果。" But it sounds not as good as the other ones.


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## Arabus

谢谢........


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## Ghabi

SuperXW said:


> If I must try to make a single sentence to fit your "I like oranges more than apples." That should be "我喜欢橙子多过苹果。" But it sounds not as good as the other ones.


The strange thing is, it's very natural to say that in Cantonese (just replace 喜歡 with 鍾意, and 柳丁/橙子 with simply 橙), although it sounds a bit awkward in Mandarin. And I don't know why!


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## SuperXW

Ghabi said:


> The strange thing is, it's very natural to say that in Cantonese (just replace 喜歡 with 鍾意, and 柳丁/橙子 with simply 橙), although it sounds a bit awkward in Mandarin. And I don't know why!


I know! Probably because the standard "compare" pattern in Cantonese is "A...过B". In Cantonese you won't use 比 pattern.


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## Ghabi

I think you've hit the nail right on the head!


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## BODYholic

Arabus said:


> 你们好,
> 
> Sorry about this question, but I am still fresh in Chinese and I don't know much:
> 
> 橙子和苹果，我更喜欢橙子。
> 
> Is this the standard way to say "I like oranges more than apples" in Mandarin?
> 
> 谢谢，



I'm not sure if other regions understand us but here we say "我喜欢橙多过苹果。". This also explains why many Chinese speakers tend to say, "I prefer orange *than* apple."


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## toicy

不可以用 "我喜歡橙子多於蘋果"嗎? 這個應該對於 北方人/台灣人/廣東人都能懂啊, 因為這個是很平常的書面語.


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## BODYholic

toicy said:


> 不可以用 "我喜歡橙子多於蘋果"嗎? 這個應該對於 北方人/台灣人/廣東人都能懂啊, 因為這個是很平常的書面語.


这个我还听得懂。应该是“多过”的高层次版吧。


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## viajero_canjeado

BODYholic said:


> 这个我还听得懂。应该是“多过”的高层次版吧。



是這樣喔？ 有趣的是，我一看「多過蘋果」就會覺得還是欠缺一個「於」：我喜歡柳橙多過於蘋果。但畢竟「多過」好像在台灣不是日常用的字眼。


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## SuperXW

toicy said:


> 不可以用 "我喜歡橙子多於蘋果"嗎? 這個應該對於 北方人/台灣人/廣東人都能懂啊, 因為這個是很平常的書面語.


確實能聽懂，不過標準普通話中還是以「比」「更」為主。


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## serious008

还是觉得 "比起苹果，我更喜欢橙子" 要好一些，浅显易懂。


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## BODYholic

viajero_canjeado said:


> 是這樣喔？ 有趣的是，我一看「多過蘋果」就會覺得還是欠缺一個「於」：我喜歡柳橙多過於蘋果。但畢竟「多過」好像在台灣不是日常用的字眼。



所以说那是高层次版呀！ 在一般会话里，我们都会习惯性的把一些字给省略掉。


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## viajero_canjeado

BODYholic said:


> 所以说那是高层次版呀！ 在一般会话里，我们都会习惯性的把一些字给省略掉。



我又弄錯了! 跟一個台灣人聊了一下, 他說"多過"是會用得到, 不過很少. 而且不會把"於"放進去. 嘿嘿, 我的語言感有時會搞混. 他也提了另個選擇: 我喜歡柳橙比蘋果還[要]多.


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## BODYholic

viajero_canjeado said:


> 我又弄錯了! 跟一個台灣人聊了一下, 他說"多過"是會用得到, 不過很少. 而且不會把"於"放進去. 嘿嘿, 我的語言感有時會搞混. 他也提了另個選擇: 我喜歡柳橙比蘋果還[要]多.


"多过"-虽然我们常用，但那有可能应该不属于规范华语。也许是由地方方言所引伸的吧。至于"多于"，这里的人都能明白。可是因为太文绉绉，太官腔。所以鲜少人会在生活上开口用到。但在一些台湾片里，常会听到什么“A大于B,小于C的”。


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## SuperXW

BODYholic said:


> "多过"-虽然我们常用，但那有可能应该不属于规范华语。也许是由地方方言所引伸的吧。至于"多于"，这里的人都能明白。可是因为太文绉绉，太官腔。所以鲜少人会在生活上开口用到。但在一些台湾片里，常会听到什么“A大于B,小于C的”。


在标准普通话中，"大于""小于""多于""少于"最常用在*数量的比较*上。所以数学课会常讲“A大于B,小于C的”。
但是像楼主的问题中，讲*喜欢程度的比较，抽象的比较*，一般会用「比」「更」的句型。


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