Comparing things

Start with the part that trips everyone up: a Thai comparison contains no word for "is". แพง (phaeng) is not the adjective "expensive", it is the verb "to be expensive". So อันนี้แพง (an-níi phaeng) is a complete sentence, "this one is expensive", with the verb sitting right there in แพง. Once you accept that, comparison becomes easy, because you never have to find a verb, conjugate anything, or agree with anything. You take the word you already have and hang one more word on the back of it. That word is กว่า (gwàa). The frame is A + quality + กว่า + B. อันนี้แพงกว่าอันนั้น (an-níi phaeng-gwàa an-nán), this one is more expensive than that one. กว่า is doing two English jobs at once, the "more" and the "than", which is why nothing goes in front of the quality word. Learners who reach for มาก (mâak) to mean "more" and produce something like มากแพง get blank looks. One apparent exception needs clearing up now, because it sits in the list below. มากกว่า (mâak-gwàa) really does have มาก in front of กว่า, but that มาก is not the degree word "very". It is the quality word มาก, to be much or many, taking กว่า on its back like every other quality word, so มากกว่า is literally "to be more, exceeding". น้อยกว่า (náwy-gwàa) works the same way. When มาก is a degree word it always follows the finished comparison: ถูกกว่ามาก (thùuk-gwàa mâak), much cheaper. Test it by asking whether the word is the thing being compared or the size of the gap. Otherwise the order is fixed and it never changes: quality first, กว่า second, the thing you are comparing against third. B does not have to be a noun. กว่า will happily take a whole idea introduced by ที่: แพงกว่าที่คิด (phaeng-gwàa thîi khít), more expensive than I thought, ไกลกว่าที่บอก (glai-gwàa thîi bàwk), further than they said. The word order does not move at all. And if B is obvious from the situation, just leave it off. Holding up two mangoes and saying แพงกว่า is perfectly good Thai. The two you will use most in Thailand are ถูกกว่า (thùuk-gwàa), cheaper, and แพงกว่า (phaeng-gwàa), more expensive. The useful shop line is มีอันไหนถูกกว่านี้ไหมครับ (mii an-nǎi thùuk-gwàa níi mǎi khráp), "do you have anything cheaper than this?", which asks about the stock rather than pressing the seller on price, so it costs you nothing socially. Note that ถูก has a second life as "correct" and a third as a passive marker. Next to a price in a shop, the cheap reading is the natural one and you are unlikely to be misunderstood, but do not lean on context outside the shop. For "correct", Thai normally uses the two-syllable ถูกต้อง (thùuk-dtâwng), so keeping ถูกต้อง for correctness and bare ถูก for cheap is the simplest way to stay clear in both directions. The same pattern runs through everything else you need: ดีกว่า (dii-gwàa) better, ใหญ่กว่า (yài-gwàa) bigger, เล็กกว่า (lék-gwàa) smaller, เร็วกว่า (reo-gwàa) faster, ร้อนกว่า (ráwn-gwàa) hotter, เผ็ดกว่า (phèt-gwàa) spicier, อร่อยกว่า (à-ràwy-gwàa) tastier, มากกว่า (mâak-gwàa) more, น้อยกว่า (náwy-gwàa) less. Two more belong on that list but need a warning first. ใกล้กว่า (glâi-gwàa) nearer and ไกลกว่า (glai-gwàa) further are the same syllable with a different tone, and they mean opposite things, which matters most in exactly the situation you use them in, a taxi. If you are not confident of the tone, say it another way instead: อันไหนใช้เวลาน้อยกว่ากันครับ (an-nǎi chái wee-laa náwy-gwàa gan khráp), which one takes less time? One more thing you will say in a market far more often than แพงกว่า: แพงไป (phaeng bpai), or in full แพงเกินไป (phaeng goen-bpai), too expensive. เกินไป measures against what you think is reasonable, not against another item, so it takes no second thing at all. เผ็ดไปหน่อย (phèt bpai nàwy), a bit too spicy. ใหญ่ไป (yài bpai), too big. Learners routinely say แพงกว่า when they mean แพงไป, and the seller is left waiting to hear more expensive than what. Degree words come after the whole comparison, not before it. For "a bit", add หน่อย (nàwy) at the end: ถูกกว่านี้หน่อย (thùuk-gwàa níi nàwy), a bit cheaper than this. For "much", add มาก (mâak): ถูกกว่ามาก (thùuk-gwàa mâak), much cheaper. The ...กว่านี้ shape is the workhorse in a shop, because นี้ (níi) is "this" and กว่า supplies the "than", and the thing in your hand is always the reference point. Turned into a request it becomes ถูกกว่านี้หน่อยได้ไหมครับ (thùuk-gwàa níi nàwy dâi mǎi khráp), roughly "could you go a bit cheaper than this?". The หน่อย matters. It is a softener as much as a quantity, and without it the same sentence lands as a demand. A vendor may answer with ลดได้นิดหน่อย (lót dâi nít-nàwy), "I can come down a little", where ลด is simply the verb "to reduce" and no comparison is involved. Thai also compares a thing with its own past, and it does not use กว่า for that. It uses ขึ้น (khêun), up, and ลง (long), down, stuck on the back of the quality word. แพงขึ้น (phaeng-khêun) means the price has gone up, not that it is expensive next to something else. ค่าเช่าขึ้นทุกปี (khâa-châo khêun thúk bpii), the rent goes up every year. ดีขึ้น (dii-khêun) is better than before, and it is what you will use and hear in a clinic: วันนี้ดีขึ้นไหมครับ (wan-níi dii-khêun mǎi khráp), are you better today? The opposite is แย่ลง (yâe long), getting worse, and ปวดน้อยลง (bpùat náwy long), hurting less. Keep the two systems apart by what they point at: กว่า points at another thing, ขึ้น and ลง point at the same thing at an earlier time. One more shape belongs here, because nothing is ranked in it either. When two things move together, Thai uses ยิ่ง...ยิ่ง... (yîng ... yîng ...), the English "the more X, the more Y". ยิ่งพูด ยิ่งเก่ง (yîng phûut yîng gèng), the more you speak, the better you get. ยิ่งไปเช้า ยิ่งดี (yîng bpai cháo yîng dii), the earlier you go the better, which is the standing advice about immigration offices. The sentence describes a trend rather than a ranking, so กว่า has no place in it. Now the trap that catches people in exactly the situation this lesson is for. When กว่า follows a number, it does not mean "more than" in the comparing sense. It means "and a bit over", the English "-odd". ร้อยกว่าบาท (ráwy-gwàa bàat) is a hundred and something baht, somewhere between 100 and 200. ยี่สิบกว่าปี (yîi-sìp-gwàa bpii) is twenty-odd years. สามชั่วโมงกว่า (sǎam chûa-moong gwàa) is a bit over three hours. The logic holds together once you see that กว่า basically means "exceeding": exceeding the quality of that one, or exceeding that number. But if you hear ร้อยกว่าบาท and process it as "more than one hundred", you will think you have been quoted a range when you have actually been quoted a rough price. So how do you say "more than a hundred baht" when you mean it as a threshold? Put มาก in front: มากกว่าร้อยบาท (mâak-gwàa ráwy bàat). Or use เกิน (goen), to exceed: เกินร้อยบาท (goen ráwy bàat). For the other direction, น้อยกว่า (náwy-gwàa) works, but in speech you will hear ไม่ถึง (mâi thǔeng), not reaching: ไม่ถึงร้อยบาท (mâi thǔeng ráwy bàat), under a hundred baht. The rule is positional and it is worth saying out loud: กว่า in front of the number is a threshold, กว่า behind the number is and a bit over. For the superlative, use ที่สุด (thîi-sùt), and it goes in the same place gwàa does, straight after the quality. ถูกที่สุด (thùuk-thîi-sùt) cheapest, แพงที่สุด (phaeng-thîi-sùt) most expensive, ดีที่สุด (dii-thîi-sùt) best, ใหญ่ที่สุด (yài-thîi-sùt) biggest. อันไหนถูกที่สุดครับ (an-nǎi thùuk-thîi-sùt khráp) is "which one is the cheapest?". To set the range, add ใน (nai) or แถว (thǎew): อร่อยที่สุดในกรุงเทพฯ (à-ràwy-thîi-sùt nai grung-thêep), the best in Bangkok, or อร่อยที่สุดแถวนี้ (à-ràwy-thîi-sùt thǎew níi), the best around here. ที่สุด also attaches to real verbs, not just qualities: ชอบอันนี้ที่สุด (châwp an-níi thîi-sùt) means "I like this one best". A housekeeping point, because almost every frame above is built on อัน. อันนี้ (an-níi) and อันนั้น (an-nán) are the all-purpose this one and that one, used for small objects with no obvious classifier of their own. When the thing has its own classifier you swap it in: เสื้อตัวนี้ (sêua dtua níi) for clothes, รถคันนี้ (rót khan níi) for vehicles, กระเป๋าใบนี้ (grà-bpǎo bai níi) for bags, and ห้องนี้ (hâwng níi) where the noun is already its own classifier. The comparison frame does not move at all, only the word sitting in front of นี้ and นั้น. Using อัน for a shirt will be understood and sounds a little childish, so it is a usable fallback, not the target. Equality splits into two words that look interchangeable and are not. เท่ากับ (thâo-gàp) needs something after it: อันนี้ราคาเท่ากับอันนั้น (an-níi raa-khaa thâo-gàp an-nán), this one costs the same as that one. It is also the "equals" of arithmetic. เท่ากัน (thâo-gan) has nothing after it, because กัน already means "each other": ราคาเท่ากัน (raa-khaa thâo-gan), the prices are the same. Pick by whether you are naming the second item or not. The negative form is the one to drill, because English speakers reach for the wrong word here. "Not as expensive as" is ไม่...เท่า, not ไม่...กว่า: อันนี้ไม่แพงเท่าอันนั้น (an-níi mâi phaeng thâo an-nán). The same เท่า sits inside เท่าไหร่ (thâo-rài), "how much", and inside the useful hedge ไม่แพงเท่าไหร่ (mâi phaeng thâo-rài), "not that expensive". เหมือน (měuan) is "the same as, just like", and it compares identity rather than amount. อันนี้เหมือนอันนั้น (an-níi měuan an-nán), this one is the same as that one. Drop the second item and add กัน and you get เหมือนกัน (měuan-gan), "they are the same", which doubles as the everyday "same here, me too": ผมก็คิดเหมือนกันครับ (phǒm gâw khít měuan-gan khráp), I think so too. Its opposites are ไม่เหมือนกัน (mâi měuan-gan) and ต่างกัน (dtàang-gan), both "different from each other", with ต่างกัน the more neutral of the two. คล้าย (khláai) is the weaker cousin: similar, close, not identical. อันนี้คล้ายอันนั้น (an-níi khláai an-nán). In speech you will hear it doubled and softened as คล้ายๆ กัน (khláai-khláai gan), "sort of similar". That gives you a usable ladder from strongest to loosest: เหมือนกัน is the same thing, คล้ายๆ กัน is similar but you can tell them apart, พอๆ กัน (phaw-phaw gan) is "about the same" for quality or quantity where neither wins, and ต่างกัน is different. คุณภาพพอๆ กัน แต่อันนี้ถูกกว่า (khun-ná-phâap phaw-phaw gan dtàe an-níi thùuk-gwàa), same quality, but this one is cheaper, is a whole shopping decision in six words. Two last things about กว่า that are not comparisons at all, though they look like them. At the end of a sentence, ดีกว่า means "I would rather" or "better just": กลับบ้านดีกว่า (glàp bâan dii-gwàa), better head home. It is a decision announced out loud, and it is extremely common. Second, preference uses ชอบ...มากกว่า (châwp ... mâak-gwàa): ผมชอบอันนี้มากกว่าครับ (phǒm châwp an-níi mâak-gwàa khráp), I prefer this one, literally "I like this one more". And when you want to say one thing is simply not in the same league, Thai skips กว่า entirely and uses สู้...ไม่ได้ (sûu ... mâi dâi), "cannot fight it": ร้านนี้สู้ร้านนั้นไม่ได้ (ráan níi sûu ráan nán mâi dâi), this shop is no match for that one. That one is worth having ready, because it turns up whenever someone ranks two shops or two brands, and the literal words, cannot fight, give you nothing to guess from if you have not met it before.