Quantity Complements: Action Count and Comparison Degree
动量补语 (action-measure complement) — Verb + 了 + Number + 次/遍/下: 我去过中国两次。(I've been to China twice.) 次 = general occurrence.
比较补语 (comparison degree complement) — after 比 comparisons, add a specific quantity after the adjective:
A 比 B + Adj + 一点儿 (a little) / Number+岁/年/… (exact difference) / 得多 or 多了 (a lot):
他比我大两岁。(He's two years older than me.) 这个比那个贵得多。(This one is much more expensive.)
Worked examples
| Chinese | Pinyin | English | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| 我去过中国两次。 | Wǒ qùguo Zhōngguó liǎng cì. | I've been to China twice. | Basic action-measure complement: Verb+过/了 + Number + 次. |
| 哥哥比我大两岁。 | Gēge bǐ wǒ dà liǎng suì. | My older brother is two years older than me. | Comparison + exact quantity difference (两岁) after the adjective. |
| 这件衣服比那件贵得多。 | Zhè jiàn yīfu bǐ nà jiàn guì de duō. | This piece of clothing is much more expensive than that one. | Comparison + 得多 (much more) intensifier after the adjective. |
What you need first
Every topic in GraphChinese names its own prerequisites, and these are the grammar points this one is built on. If a sentence here will not parse, one of them is why.
What this opens up
These patterns list Quantity Complements among their own prerequisites, so they become readable once this one holds.
Quantity Complements is one topic of 829. GraphChinese teaches them in prerequisite order, so this pattern reaches you on the day everything it rests on is proven. The whole course, HSK 0 through HSK 6, is $49 once for lifetime access.
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