比较 + Adjective
Reach for this when you want to soften an adjective into 'relatively' or 'fairly' — 比较便宜 means 'fairly cheap,' not 'cheapest.' It is the everyday hedge that lets you describe something without claiming an extreme. Native speakers use 比较 constantly to sound measured: 比较忙, 比较好, 比较贵. Whenever English would say 'kind of,' 'pretty,' or 'rather,' Chinese reaches for 比较.
Structure
比较 [ADJECTIVE]
bǐjiào [ADJ]
How to Think About It
比较 literally means 'compared,' but in this construction it does NOT introduce another thing to compare against — it just dials the adjective down to 'somewhat.' Think of it as a built-in shrug: 'on the scale, this leans toward [adjective].' If you want an explicit comparison ('A is cheaper than B'), you need the 比 pattern, not 比较.
Examples
在中国看病比较便宜。
Zài Zhōngguó kànbìng bǐjiào piányi.
Seeing a doctor in China is relatively cheap.
今天比较忙, 明天再说。
Jīntiān bǐjiào máng, míngtiān zài shuō.
Today I'm pretty busy; let's talk tomorrow.
这家餐厅的菜比较好吃。
Zhè jiā cāntīng de cài bǐjiào hǎochī.
This restaurant's food is fairly tasty.
Common Mistake
Learners use 比较 to make explicit comparisons, putting it in front of an adjective with another object in mind, like 'this is more expensive than that.' But 比较 + adj on its own just means 'relatively [adj]' — to compare two things you need A 比 B + adj.
苹果比较贵香蕉。
苹果比香蕉贵。
Don't Confuse With
A 比 B + Adjective
The real comparative — names what you are comparing against. Use 比 when you want 'A is more [adj] than B'; use 比较 when you just want a softened 'fairly [adj].'
很 + Adjective
很 sounds neutral or even understated ('quite'). 比较 specifically adds a 'relatively' flavor — implicitly compared to some baseline.
有点儿 + Adjective
有点儿 is 'a little [adj],' usually with a negative or unwanted nuance (有点儿贵 = 'a bit too pricey'). 比较 is more neutral and works for positive or negative adjectives.
Practice
在中国看病 ___ 便宜。
Show answer
比较
今天 ___ 忙, 我们明天见。
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比较
Arrange: [比较 / 这家 / 好吃 / 的菜 / 餐厅]
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这家餐厅的菜比较好吃。
Translate to Chinese: 'The weather today is pretty hot.'
Show answer
今天天气比较热。
Write one sentence using 比较 + adjective to describe your current city.
Show answer
Example answer: 我住的城市比较安静。 (The city I live in is fairly quiet.)
Hear It in Real Episodes
This pattern appears in 1 Fluentide episode. Press play to hear the sentence:
第二个原因，是因为在中国看病比较便宜。
The second reason is that seeing a doctor in China is relatively cheap.
Mongolian Baby Saved at Shanghai Renji HospitalElementary
Related Grammar Patterns
Acquire by listening
Hear 比较 + Adjective in real Chinese, not in a textbook.
Fluentide picks the next news episode at your level, so this pattern shows up again and again in real context. The transcript marks it, the audio drills it. Free to start.