比 (bǐ): to compare

Meanings

1 to compare
2 than
3 ratio
4 to gesture
5 (score) to

Characters

比

bǐ

to compare; ratio

Examples

他比我高。

Tā bǐ wǒ gāo.

He is taller than me.

今天比昨天热。

Jīntiān bǐ zuótiān rè.

Today is hotter than yesterday.

比分是三比二。

Bǐfēn shì sān bǐ èr.

The score is 3 to 2.

Tips

grammar

Comparison structure is A 比 B + adjective. Unlike English, the adjective does not change form: 他比我高 means 'he is taller than me' — bare 高 carries the 'taller' sense.

mistakes

Never put 很, 更 or 非常 in front of the adjective in a 比 sentence. To express degree, put it AFTER: 他比我高很多 ('much taller') or 高一点 ('a bit taller').

register

Capitalised 比 on its own is the standard abbreviation for 比利时 (Belgium) in news headlines, sports scoreboards and country lists — e.g. 中比建交 'China-Belgium establish relations'. A separate slang reading bī is an internet euphemism for the vulgar 屄; you will meet it in chat or memes (e.g. 牛比 standing in for 牛屄 'awesome / badass'), but it is non-standard and unrelated to the 'compare' meaning.

Components

radical

匕 bǐ

spoon; ladle; person bent forward

Right half — the second of the two side-by-side figures. 比 is filed under itself as Kangxi radical #81 (it indexes a tiny family including 毕, 昆 and 毙). Although both halves are the same 匕, together they freeze the act of standing one beside another for measurement.

semantic

匕 bǐ

spoon; ladle; person bent forward

Left half — a stylised kneeling person facing right. The component 匕 on its own means 'spoon' but here it acts as a human silhouette. Two of these placed side by side give the literal picture of 'comparison', the same compounding logic as 林 (two trees = forest).