相对而言

相對而言

xiāngduì ér yán

phrase HSK 7-9 #28,719

Meanings

Literally 'comparing and speaking'

相对而言，今年的冬天不太冷。

Xiāngduì'éryán, jīnnián de dōngtiān bùtài lěng.

Relatively speaking, this winter isn't too cold.

相对而言，中文比英文难学。

Xiāngduì'éryán, Zhōngwén bǐ Yīngwén nán xué.

Comparatively speaking, Chinese is harder to learn than English.

grammar

相对而言 is a set phrase typically placed at the beginning of a sentence. It's interchangeable with 相对来说 (xiāngduì lái shuō), but slightly more formal.

相 xiāng

对 duì

而 ér

言 yán