みなさんこんにちは。Welcome to Sakura Neko’s Japanese Study Room, where you can learn Japanese from anime quotes! Today’s topic is 紅の豚 (Kurenai No Buta: Porco Rosso).
In this article, we would like to look at one of the memorable quotes in Porco Rosso, and break down the grammar point used.
If you read this article, you will understand:
✅ An expression you can use when you compare 2 items (A is more X than B) Porco Rosso used.
✅ Other useful grammar points you can use for comparison
Today’s Quote
ファシストになるより豚のほうがマシさ
fashisuto ni naru yori buta no houga mashi sa
I’d rather be a pig than become a fascist.
Vocabulary in this quote:
ファシスト (fashisuto): fascist
なる (naru) : to become
より (yori) : rather than
豚 (buta): pig
マシ (mashi): (if anything) better
さ (sa): This is a rather colloquial sentence ending particle that shows the statement is more playfully assertive.
Saying ‘A is more X than B’ in Japanese
In this Porco Rosso quote, you can see a very useful grammar point you can use when you compare 2 items.
The sentence pattern for a comparative sentence is:
A は B より Adjective
A wa B yori Adjective
A is more Adjective than B
In this sentence pattern, you can use 「の方が / no houga」instead of 「は」 and you can use 「よりも」instead of 「より」. They don’t impact the meaning of the sentence.
The [A は] part and the [B より] parts can be swapped, so you could also say
B より A は Adjective
If you look at the quote, you can see that it follows this sentence pattern:
ファシストになるより豚のほうがマシさ
Example sentences:
今日は昨日より寒い。
kyou wa kinou yori samui
Today is colder than yesterday.
まんがのほうがアニメより面白い。
Manga no houga anime yori omoshiroi
Manga is more interesting than anime.
スポーツをするよりゲームをするほうが楽しい。
supōtsu o suru yori gēmu o suru houga tanoshii
Rather than playing sport, playing games is more fun.
When you ask a comparative question, you can use the following sentence pattern:
AとBでは、どっちのほうがAdjectiveですか。
A to B dewa docchi no houga Adjective desuka
Between A and B, which is more Adjective?
In this sentence pattern, 「どっち」can be swapped for 「どちら」without changing the meaning of the sentence. The latter sounds slightly more formal.
Other expressions for comparison
When you say two items being equal or have similar quality, you can use this expression.
AもBも同じくらいAdjectiveです。
A mo B mo onajikurai Adjective desu
Both A and B is equally Adjective.
The 「AもBも」part can be swapped for 「どちらも」which means ‘both of them’.
Example sentences include:
鬼滅の刃もジブリの映画も同じくらい好きです。
kimetu no yaiba mo jiburi no eiga mo onaji kurai suki desu
Both Demon Slayer and Ghibli Movies are equally liked → I like both Demon Slayer and Ghibli movies)
When you comment on something being similar or different, you can use this pattern.
AとBはXがにています（ちがいます）
A to B wa X ga niteimasu (chigaimasu)
Between A and B, X is similar (different)
Example sentences include,
紅の豚とポニョはテーマがちがいます。
kurenai no buta to ponyo wa te-ma ga chigaimasu
Between Porco Rosso and Ponyo, themes are different.
Summary – まとめ
In summary, we discussed various sentence patterns you can use when you compare two items in Japanese, using a quote from Porco Rosso as an example.
I hope you found this helpful! If you liked this post, make sure you check out other articles as well! You can also find more phrases from my twitter account.
じゃあ、みなさんさようなら！
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