Comparing: 더, 보다, 제일

More: 더

Two new adjectives: 빨라요, is fast, and 느려요, is slow. Now compare: 지하철이 더 빨라요 — the subway is faster. 버스가 더 느려요 — the bus is slower. 더 싼 거 있어요? — do you have a cheaper one?

더, “more”, stands directly before the adjective, whether the adjective ends the sentence (더 빨라요) or sits before a noun (더 싼 거). English changes the word itself, fast → faster. Korean leaves it alone and puts 더 in front.

The dictionary form of 빨라요 is 빠르다. Learn 빨라요 as it is.

Than: 보다

버스보다 지하철이 더 빨라요 — the subway is faster than the bus. 차보다 커피가 더 비싸요 — coffee is more expensive than tea.

보다 is “than”, but it comes after its noun and is written onto it: 버스보다 is “than the bus”. So the noun wearing 보다 is the one that loses the comparison. The noun with 이 / 가 is the one that is faster, dearer, more.

The 보다 phrase can move

버스보다 지하철이 더 빨라요 and 지하철이 버스보다 더 빨라요 mean exactly the same.

In English, swapping the two nouns reverses the meaning: “the bus is faster than the subway”. In Korean the particles say who is who, so the two nouns can change places freely. What does not move is the end of the sentence: 더 and the adjective stay last. To read a comparison, do not go by position. Find 보다.

Taller and older

키 is a person’s height, and “tall” is 키가 커요, “the height is big”: 민수 씨가 저보다 키가 더 커요 — Minsu is taller than me. 나이 is age, and “old” is 나이가 많아요, “the age is much”: 저는 민수 씨보다 나이가 더 많아요 — I’m older than Minsu.

The pairs are fixed: 키 with 커요, 나이 with 많아요. Two more adjectives: 높아요, is high — 산이 높아요 — and 낮아요, is low — 의자가 너무 낮아요.

높아요 is pronounced [노파요]; 낮아요 is [나자요].

The most: 제일, 가장

뭐가 제일 맛있어요? — what’s the tastiest? 비빔밥이 제일 맛있어요 — the bibimbap is. 비행기가 가장 빨라요 — the plane is the fastest.

제일 and 가장 stand exactly where 더 stands and both mean “most”. 제일 is the everyday word; 가장 is a little more written. The first question is worth memorising for restaurants: it asks what is best on the menu.

Seasons, and less: 덜

여름 is summer, 겨울 winter. 더 and 제일 also work before a verb of liking: 저는 여름보다 겨울을 더 좋아해요 — I like winter more than summer. 저는 겨울을 제일 좋아해요 — I like winter best.

덜 is the opposite of 더, “less”: 오늘은 어제보다 덜 바빠요 — today I’m less busy than yesterday. It is far rarer than 더. Recognising it is enough.

더 and 덜 differ only in the final ㄹ. Listen for it.