比

比 (bǐ) is the Chinese comparison word — the equivalent of English 'than' — but its grammar flips the English pattern in a way every learner has to memorize. The basic structure is A 比 B + ADJECTIVE: 我比他高 ('I am taller than him,' literally 'I compare-to him tall'). Crucially, you do NOT add 很 ('very'): 他比我高很 is wrong. To add degree, use 一点 ('a little'), 得多 ('much more'), or a specific amount: 他比我高一点 ('a little taller'), 他比我高得多 ('much taller'), 他比我高五厘米 ('five centimeters taller'). Negation uses 没有 instead of 不: 我没有他高 ('I'm not as tall as him') — never 我不比他高 in basic comparisons. 比 also works as a verb meaning 'to compare' (比一比 'compare them') and appears in compounds like 比赛 ('competition, match') and 比如 ('for example'). Sports scores read with 比: 三比二 ('three to two').

Memory hook: The character 比 looks like two people standing side by side — exactly what you do when you compare two things.

比 appears in 1 podcast episode at natural native speed, with full Chinese script, pinyin, and line-by-line English translation.