43992
I have two questions that I think are quite related regarding the
interpretation of comparatives.

**1. Is it necessary to include a より or a 方 expression to convey a
comparative?**

Suppose you are having a conversation about how the book you just read was too
long. You are then asked what you want to do later. You respond:

> 昨日読んだ本より短いのが買いたい。
>
> I want to buy a shorter book than the one I read yesterday.  
>  (Please bear in mind that I constructed the Japanese sentence above, so it
> could be wrong in any number of ways. I'd appreciate a correction if
> required.)

My question is, if you responded with simply:

> 短い本が買いたい。

would it be interpreted as implying "shorter" (where "shorter" is drawing a
comparison to the book previously mentioned in context), or "short" (where
"short" is not explicitly compared to anything), or perhaps it is unclear?

Furthermore, is there an alternate way to express the comparison without
explicitly stating 「昨日読んだ本」?

**2. Do なる expressions imply comparison or must it be explicitly stated?**

I'd like to compare the following English sentences:

>   1. The road became wide.
>
>   2. The road became wider.
>
>

Sentence 1 states that something changed and now the road is wide (as opposed
to narrow). Sentence 2 states that something changed and now the road is wider
than it used to be. It does not actually state that the road is wide.

As far as I know, both of these sentences would be translated to:

> 道が広くなった

Is my translation correct for both cases and if so, how could it be altered to
differentiate between the two English meanings?
CC BY-SA 4.0
2017-03-01T05:09:41.833
43972
2019-01-27T05:37:33.547
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
-1
3296
question
grammar nuances comparative-constructions
Questions about comparatives
About question 1: Yes, より is necessary to compare with other things. 短い本が買いたい
means "I want to buy a short book" and it doesn't compare with other books.
And 短い本 is unnatural. 薄い本 would be natural as the meaning.

About questions 2: 道が広くなった means "The road is wider than it used to be", we
can't know that the road is actually wide or not by only this sentence. If you
want to say the road isn't actually wide, you should add the sentence
"実際は広くない" or you can say "前よりは広くなった". 道が前よりは広くなった can imply "The road only
became wider than it used to be." and the road isn't necessary to be actually
wide.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-01T06:39:16.900
43978
2017-03-01T09:07:16.417
2017-03-01T09:07:16.417
7320
7320
43972
answer
> "Is it necessary to include a より or a 方{ほう} expression to convey a
> comparative?"

In many cases, yes, but certainly not in all cases.

The **key factor** here is whether or not the comparison is made against a
concrete example as the standard. That is to say, one needs to consider
whether the comparison is **absolute or relative**. In other words, is it
**objective or subjective**?

> 「昨日読{きのうよ}んだ本{ほん} **より** 短{みじか}いのが買{か}いたい。」

In this sentence, the comparison being made is basically objective. Why so?
Because the speaker knows exactly how long the book he read yesterday was.
Today, he wants to buy a shorter one.

(For those wondering, the use of 「が」 there is completely natural.)

> 「短い本が買いたい。」 ("I want to buy a short book.")

This sentence, when uttered all by itself, can only mean " **I want to buy a
short book**." It does **not** mean "I want to buy a short **er** book."

There is, however, an easy way to express "a shorter book" without comparing
it to another actually existing book. In other words, the book only needs to
be "kind of short" by the speaker's own standards. That phrase would be:

> 「短 **め** の本が買いたい。」 ("I want to buy a short **er** book.")

How short is 短め, only the speaker knows because that is a subjective
judgement. Important thing is that the sentence makes **perfect** sense to the
speaker while it might sound ambiguous to some others.

> "Do なる expressions imply comparison or must it be explicitly stated?"

Great question. **They do generally imply comparison**. Otherwise, what is the
use of our magic verb 「なる」, which is used to express " **change of state** "?
You cannot talk about "change" without making some kind of comparison, can
you?

> 「道{みち}が広{ひろ}くなった。」

undoubtedly means "The road became wid **er** (than it was at an unmentioned
time)." You simply cannot say that sentence if the road width has not changed.
Using 「なる」 means there has been a change.

You could say:

> 「以前{いぜん}より道が広くなった。」

to state the standard of comparison by adding " **than before** ", but the
point of the matter is that "than before" is already implied in the sentence
without 「以前より」.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-01T17:24:18.473
43992
2017-03-01T23:37:33.927
2017-03-01T23:37:33.927
9831
43972
answer