Comparisons and order: より, のほうが, いちばん, 〜てから and 〜前に

Which phone plan is cheaper? Which train is faster? Which supermarket is closest? You compare things every day in Japan. And instructions — at work, at the clinic, at the ward office — often come in order: first this, then that. This lesson teaches both, with a situation most workers in Japan meet once a year: the company health check.

Comparing two things: より

AはBより〜です means “A is more … than B”. より (than) goes after the thing you compare with: 電車はバスよりはやいです — “The train is faster than the bus.” The adjective does not change — Japanese has no word for “more” here: このスーパーは駅前の店より安いです — “This supermarket is cheaper than the shop by the station.”

Which of the two? どちら and のほうが

Ask with AとBとどちらが〜ですか and answer with Aのほうが〜です (ほう = side): 電車とバスとどちらがはやいですか — 電車のほうがはやいです. The full answer can include より: バスより電車のほうがはやいです. With friends, どちら becomes どっち. If there is no difference, say どちらも〜です — “both are …”.

The most: いちばん

いちばん (number one) + an adjective means “the most …”. Show the group with で (a place or a time) or の中で (a group of things or people): 日本でいちばん高い山は富士山ふじさんです. Ask with 何, どこ, だれ or いつ + が:

Question	Answer	Use
AとBとどちらが〜ですか	Aのほうが〜です	which of two
〜の中で何がいちばん〜ですか	〜がいちばん〜です	the most (things)
〜でどこがいちばん〜ですか	〜がいちばん〜です	the most (places)
〜の中でだれがいちばん〜ですか	〜さんがいちばん〜です	the most (people)

First this, then that: 〜てから

The て-form (lesson 18) + から means “after doing …, (then) …”. The first action is finished before the second one starts: 手をあらってから、ごはんを食べます — “I wash my hands, then I eat.” After a て-form, から always means “after” — not “because” (lesson 16) and not “from” (lesson 8).

Before: 〜前に

The dictionary form of a verb + 前に means “before doing …”: ねる前に、はをみがきます — “I brush my teeth before I go to bed.” With a noun, use の前に: しごとの前に (before work). The verb before 前に stays in the dictionary form even when the sentence is about the past: 日本に来る前に、日本語をべんきょうしました.

Lesson 27 teaches the dictionary form of every verb. For this lesson you need only a few: 食べます → 食べる, ねます → ねる, 見ます → 見る, 行きます → 行く, します → する, 来ます → 来る (くる).

前 is the same kanji as in 駅の前 (in front of the station, lesson 14). With a place, の前に means “in front of”; with a time, an event or a verb, it means “before”.

At the company health check

Under the Industrial Safety and Health Act, employers in Japan must give regular workers a general health check (健康けんこう診断しんだん) once a year, and workers must take it. The instructions use the patterns of this lesson:

• 検査けんさの前に、朝あさごはんを食べないでください。 — Please don’t eat breakfast before the check.
• きがえてから、受付うけつけに来てください。 — Please come to reception after you change.
• 右の目と左の目と、どちらがよく見えますか。 — Which eye can see better, the right or the left? (eye test)
• 右の耳と左の耳と、どちらがよく聞こえますか。 — Which ear can hear better? (hearing test)

Read the instruction sheet your company gives you a few days before, because some rules (no breakfast, no water) start the night before.

New kanji: 目, 耳, 足

目 (め) — eye. After a number it also shows order: 一つ目 (ひとつめ, the first), 二つ目の駅 (the second station). 目 has two lines inside the box; 日 has one. 耳 (みみ) — ear. 足 (あし) — foot or leg; it also means “to be enough”: 足ります (たります).

Common mistakes

• Putting より after the winner. 電車はバスよりはやい: より marks the slower one, the bus.
• Answering a どちら question with いちばん. For two things, use 〜のほうが.
• Using the ます form before 前に: say ねる前に, not “ねます前に”.
• Using the past before 前に: 来る前に, not “来た前に” — even about the past.
• Reading 〜てから as “because”. After a て-form, から means “after”.

How to practise

• Compare two things you use every day (two shops, two trains, two apps) with より and のほうが.
• Write what is いちばん in your home country: the highest mountain, the biggest city, the most popular food.
• Describe your morning in three sentences with 〜てから and 〜前に.
• Write 目, 耳 and 足 on the worksheet and do the fill-in exercise.