The difference between 比～更 and 比～多了

Question

In Mandarin, there seems to be two forms of comparison statements. The first is 比～更, and the second is 比～多了 (or other variants such as 很多 and 得多).

Example:

他打篮球比我更好。

他打篮球比我厉害多了。

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坐高铁比坐飞机更方便。

坐高铁比坐飞机方便很多。

I understand that 更 must precede the adjective while 很多 must be put after the adjective. However, except it what kind of differences between these two forms of comparison statement?

_{By the way, should 了 be put after 更好 and 更方便 as well...?}

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UPDATE

Let me clarify the point here. My question is about the difference between 比～更 and 比～多了, regarding the degree of the strength. So for example, suppose the following sentence:

他打篮球比我好。

他打篮球比我更好。

他打篮球比我厉害多了。

How should you order them by the degree of the strength? I know the first sentence is the weakest, and just means "better" But the second and third sentences both mean "much better", and I don't understand which looks stronger regarding the degree, and also I would like to know any differences, if any (e.g. nuances, etc...).

Answer 1

Simply,

比～更: even (more)；

比～多了：much (more)；

他打篮球比我更好。： he plays basket ball even better than me.

他打篮球比我厉害多了。: he plays basket ball much better than me.

坐高铁比坐飞机更方便。: Taking high-speed railway is even more convenient than taking a flight.

坐高铁比坐飞机方便很多。: Taking high-speed railway is much more convenient than taking a flight.

Updated according to the updates from OP:

Compared these three sentences:

1. 他打篮球比我好。

2. 他打篮球比我更好。

3. 他打篮球比我厉害多了。

2 and 3 are stronger than 1. 2 and 3 are hard to compare, because they are used for different purposes.

Answer 2

Thay both are forms of comparison statements. Similar to English, the "多" just equal to "much".

Let me translate into English word by word that you would know the difference at once.

EP1

他打篮球比我更好。 He plays better than me (in basketball).

他打篮球比我厉害多了。 He plays much/way better than me (in basketball).

EP2:

坐高铁比坐飞机更方便。 Taking high-speed railway is more convenient than taking aircraft.

坐高铁比坐飞机方便很多。 Taking high-speed railway is much/way more convenient than taking aircraft.

Answer 3

There's some nuances in the meaning, such as

他打篮球比我好。       -> He plays basketball better than I do.
他打篮球比我更好。     -> (I plays basketball well, but) He plays even better than I do.
他打篮球比我还（要）好。-> ditto

他打篮球比我厉害多了。  -> He plays basketball much better than I do.
他打篮球比我厉害很多。  -> ditto
他打篮球比我厉害得多。  -> ditto

By the way, should 了 be put after 更好 and 更方便 as well...?

You can, but it doesn't work the same way as 厉害多了, but would indicate change in state.

坐高铁比坐飞机更方便了。-> (Taking high-speed train had been more convenient than airplane,) it became even more convenient than airplane.

Answer 4

他打篮球比我好。

"He play better basketball than me"

This sentence only stated his skill is above you; there's no reference to the level of either yours or his. You can write "I play worse basketball than him" meaning both of you are bad, but he is better in comparison; or both of you are good, but he is better in comparison.

他打篮球比我更好。

"He play ever better basketball than me"

This sentence implies you are good too, but he is even better.

他打篮球比我厉害多了。

He play far better basketball ball than I

This sentence implies his skill is far above you; his skill being great is a certainty, but your skill could be either good or bad.

Let me give you an example: Team Germany is far better than Team Japan. Team Japanese is far better than Team Hong Kong; The extremely strong Germany team is far stronger than both the good team Japan and the weak team Hong Kong.

The Question:

Let me clarify the point here. My question is about the difference between 比～更 and 比～多了, regarding the degree of the strength. So for example, suppose the following sentence:

The answer:

• [A 比 B + adjective] describes a difference in degree between A and B; but the size of the gap is not mentioned; and there's no mention of what level either object is in.

• [A 比 B 更 + adjective] describes a difference in degree between A and B, but the size of the gap is not too great ; Object A's degree is certainly high, but object B's degree is also high.

• [A 比 B + adjective +多了] describes a great difference in degree between A and B. although object B's level is not mentioned, object A's level or degree is certainly very high.

Answer 5

A 比 B 高: only says A is taller than B (could both be very short)

A 比 B 更高: B is already very tall (say 6' 5"), A is even taller (say 6' 8")

A 比 B 高多了: A is a lot taller than B (don't know by how much, just a lot) (could both be short; it's just that A is a lot taller)

A 比 B 高 amount: A is taller than B by amount (could both be very short)

A and B can be humans, can be things like storeyed buildings, hills/mountains, etc.