Subject + 比较 + Adjective (fairly, rather)
A gentle "fairly"
- very很 and very非常 are strong. Sometimes you want a softer "fairly, rather."
- That's fairly / rather比较.
Subject + fairly / rather比较 + Adjective
- Pattern: Subject + fairly / rather比较 + Adjective = "fairly / rather / relatively …".
this这个question问题fairly比较simple简单。
- 比较简单 = "fairly simple" — gentler than very很simple简单.
Practice
“This question is fairly simple.” 这个问题 ____ 简单。
比较 + Adjective means “fairly / rather”: 比较简单.
Practice
比较 is stronger than 非常.
比较 is a soft hedge — weaker than 很 or 非常.
Works with feeling-verbs too
I我rather比较prefer喜欢taking坐the subway地铁。
- fairly / rather比较to like喜欢 = "rather prefer." Also fairly / rather比较to dislike讨厌, fairly / rather比较want / think / miss想…
Explore
Correct or broken?
比较 means 'fairly / rather' before an adjective — it never builds a 比-comparison.
Practice
Which is correct with a feeling-verb?
比较 goes before the feeling-verb and never stacks with 很: 比较喜欢.
Practice
Arrange: “I rather prefer taking the subway.”
Subject + 比较 + Verb-phrase: 我 + 比较 + 喜欢 + 坐地铁.
Watch out
Watch out
fairly / rather比较 quietly implies a comparison ("relatively, more than the rest") even when nothing else is named. It's a hedge — don't stack very很 with it (very很fairly / rather比较 ✗).
Recap
Key idea
- fairly / rather比较 + Adjective — fairly / rather (比较简单)
- Softer than very很 / very非常
- Works with feeling-verbs: fairly / rather比较to like喜欢
Read the full reference: HSK 3 grammar — fairly / rather比较.