<p>There is a very direct translation.</p>

<p>If "more than" means higher degree/level of the [verb], then <code>I [verb] [x] more than [y]</code> can be translated to <code>我 [verb] [x] 甚于 [verb] [y]</code>.</p>

<pre><code>I [verb] [x] more than [y]. 我 [verb] [x] 甚于 [verb] [y].
I love you more than my phone. 我 爱 你 甚于 爱 我的手机.
</code></pre>

<p>甚于 means "surpass, exceed", indicating the degree/level of the [verb].</p>

<p>If "more than" means a larger number/amount, then 甚于 should be replaced with 多于.</p>

<pre><code>I play basketball more than football. 我 玩(打) 篮球 多于 玩(踢) 足球.
</code></pre>

<p>You may notice that the verb appeared twice in the Chinese translation. The second verb is there to avoid ambiguity. There is no case(grammar) in Chinese. A pronoun is always in the same form whether it's accusative case or nominative case. If you say</p>

<pre><code>我爱你甚于他
</code></pre>

<p>then I don't know whether you mean</p>

<pre><code>I love you more than he does. 我比他更爱你
</code></pre>

<p>or</p>

<pre><code>I love you more than him. 我爱你甚于爱他.
</code></pre>

<p>If you are sure no ambiguity will be introduced, then you can leave out the second verb. As in</p>

<pre><code>我爱你甚于我的手机.
</code></pre>

<p>There is only one reasonable interpretation, that is</p>

<pre><code>I love you more than my phone.
</code></pre>

<p>No one will interpret it as</p>

<pre><code>I love you more than my phone does. 我比我的手机更爱你.
</code></pre>

<p>In this case, the second verb can, but doesn't have to, be left out. It's always OK to specify the second verb.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-08T01:32:49.413Z
Thanks! Very helpful answer.

I notice that, in both cases, you specify the verb a second time. Can you ever leave the second verb out if they are the same?
Frank Tan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-08T04:43:53.437Z
@Frank Tan. You can leave out the second verb if you are sure no ambiguity will be introduced. I added several lines talking about this.
ltux
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-08T18:33:43.363Z
甚于 sounds a little bit too formal. Maybe 胜过? Well, anyway, the structure sounds good, and there should be plenty of words that can be applied here.
bfrguci
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-07T19:50:39.610Z
2016-07-08T05:49:47.517Z
2016-07-08T05:49:47.517Z
ltux
<p>I don't know how to directly translate a sentence like this:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>I [verb] [x] more than [y]</p>
</blockquote>

<p>I would usually translate it like this:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>[x] 比 [y] 更 [some adjective that captures the same meaning as the verb]</p>
</blockquote>

<p>For example, "I love you more than my phone" would become "你比我的手机更亲爱".</p>

<p>Is there a more direct translation?</p>

<translation><sentence-structure>
A more direct translation for "I [verb] [x] more than [y]"
# A more direct translation for "I [verb] [x] more than [y]"

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-07-07)

I don't know how to directly translate a sentence like this:

> I [verb] [x] more than [y]

I would usually translate it like this:

> [x] 比 [y] 更 [some adjective that captures the same meaning as the verb]

For example, "I love you more than my phone" would become "你比我的手机更亲爱".

Is there a more direct translation?

**Tags:** translation, sentence-structure


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2016-07-07. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

There is a very direct translation.

If "more than" means higher degree/level of the [verb], then `I [verb] [x] more than [y]` can be translated to `我 [verb] [x] 甚于 [verb] [y]`.

```
I [verb] [x] more than [y]. 我 [verb] [x] 甚于 [verb] [y].
I love you more than my phone. 我 爱 你 甚于 爱 我的手机.

```

甚于 means "surpass, exceed", indicating the degree/level of the [verb].

If "more than" means a larger number/amount, then 甚于 should be replaced with 多于.

```
I play basketball more than football. 我 玩(打) 篮球 多于 玩(踢) 足球.

```

You may notice that the verb appeared twice in the Chinese translation. The second verb is there to avoid ambiguity. There is no case(grammar) in Chinese. A pronoun is always in the same form whether it's accusative case or nominative case. If you say

```
我爱你甚于他

```

then I don't know whether you mean

```
I love you more than he does. 我比他更爱你

```

or

```
I love you more than him. 我爱你甚于爱他.

```

If you are sure no ambiguity will be introduced, then you can leave out the second verb. As in

```
我爱你甚于我的手机.

```

There is only one reasonable interpretation, that is

```
I love you more than my phone.

```

No one will interpret it as

```
I love you more than my phone does. 我比我的手机更爱你.

```

In this case, the second verb can, but doesn't have to, be left out. It's always OK to specify the second verb.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks! Very helpful answer.  I notice that, in both cases, you specify the verb a second time. Can you ever leave the second verb out if they are the same?  
> **username_1**: @username_0. You can leave out the second verb if you are sure no ambiguity will be introduced. I added several lines talking about this.  
> **username_2**: 甚于 sounds a little bit too formal. Maybe 胜过? Well, anyway, the structure sounds good, and there should be plenty of words that can be applied here.  

---

