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相比 (xiāng bǐ) — to compare (used in structures like 与/和/跟...相比 or 相比之下)

Definition

相比 is a written-style 'compared to / in comparison with', used as a whole chunk (与/和...相比, 相比之下). 比 is the everyday short comparator ('A 比 B + adj'); 对比 is a stronger 'to contrast'.

verb
to compare (used in structures like 与/和/跟...相比 or 相比之下)

Examples

  • 相比，。
    Yǔ qù nián xiāng bǐ, jīn nián de jià gé gèng gāo.
    Compared to last year, this year's prices are higher.
  • 相比，。
    Hé nà ge chéng shì xiāng bǐ, zhè lǐ de huán jìng gèng hǎo.
    Compared to that city, the environment here is better.
  • ，。
    xiāng bǐ Zhī xià, wǒ gèng xǐ huan zuò dì tiě.
    In comparison, I prefer taking the subway.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

相xiāngmutual
比bǐcompare

相 contributes the sense of mutual or each other to 比, giving 'to compare'.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

In 相, 目 is an eye and 木 is a tree, showing an eye looking at a tree; this originally meant “to observe.”

Open 相 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

  • 匕匕bǐ
  • 匕匕bǐ

比 is two 匕 placed side by side. Chu Wan-li treats both as sound parts, while an old reading takes the side-by-side arrangement as putting things next to each other.

Open 比 →

Grammar

Appears in
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