Grammar › Comparison › 〜より・〜ほうが

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〜より・〜ほうが

How Japanese says "more than". One word marks what you're beating, the other spotlights the winner — and you can use either on its own.

The short version

The full frame is AよりBのほうが〜 — "B is more … than A". より attaches to the thing you're comparing against (the lower side); のほうが marks the winner. In real talk you rarely say both halves — just the one that carries your point.

夏なつより冬ふゆのほうが好すき — I like winter more than summer
Aより = "than A" ・ Bのほうが = "the B side is more" — mix & match

より — "than …"

より sits right after the thing being out-done, then an adjective states how the other thing wins.

It's quieter than last year. (去年より — "compared to last year")
▶ Japanese with Shun · Ep44 · 7:01 — hear it →
It's hotter than body temperature, after all. (体温より — the standard you're beating)
▶ Let's Talk in Japanese! · ep395 · 0:51 — hear it →

〜のほうが — "the … side is more"

ほうが (literally "the direction / side of") picks one option out as the greater. You'll often hear it alone, with the losing side left implied by context.

It's better to reply by voice… (this option wins — the other is left unsaid)
▶ YUYUの日本語Podcast · Vol.01 · 14:45 — hear it →

Asking "which is more?"

To ask, put the choices with 両方りょうほう or a と…と list and finish with どちらのほうが (casually どっちのほうが): "which of the two is more …?".

犬いぬと猫ねことどちらのほうが好すき？ — which do you like more, dogs or cats?

Watch out

🗣 の drops, どっち takes over. Casually のほうが often loses the の (「冬ふゆのほうが」→「冬ほうが」), and the question word どちら becomes どっち: 「どっちがいい？」 ("which is better?").
より marks the loser, not the topic. In 夏なつより冬ふゆのほうが好き, it's 冬 you like more — より always attaches to the thing being out-done. Note: 〜ほうがいい ("you'd better …", advice) is a related but separate pattern — see 〜ほうがいい.
Hear より & ほうが in real Japanese
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Next: いちばん — the most → · 〜ほうがいい — had better → · All grammar

Free on Wakatta — learn Japanese by listening. Every example above is a real line from a Japanese podcast, timestamped so you can hear it.