Comparison: 過 gwo3 and 啲 di1

Comparisons are one of the biggest structural differences between Cantonese and Mandarin. In Mandarin, you say A 比 B + adjective (他比我高 — he is taller than me). In Cantonese, the word order flips: A + adjective + 過 gwo3 + B (佢高過我 — he is taller than me). The adjective comes BEFORE 過, not after.

The pattern is straightforward once you get used to it: Subject + Adjective + 過 gwo3 + Object of comparison. More examples: 呢個平過嗰個 ni1 go3 peng4 gwo3 go2 go3 (this one is cheaper than that one), 今日熱過尋日 gam1 jat6 jit6 gwo3 cam4 jat6 (today is hotter than yesterday).

To say 'a bit more', Cantonese uses 啲 di1 after the adjective: 好啲 hou2 di1 (a bit better), 平啲 peng4 di1 (a bit cheaper), 快啲 faai3 di1 (a bit faster). This is like Mandarin 一點 yīdiǎn / 一些 yīxiē but shorter and more colloquial. You can combine both: 呢個平啲過嗰個 (this is a bit cheaper than that).

The superlative uses 最 zeoi3, which works the same as Mandarin 最 zuì: 最好 zeoi3 hou2 (best), 最大 zeoi3 daai6 (biggest), 最平 zeoi3 peng4 (cheapest). This is shared grammar — no structural difference from Mandarin.

For equal comparisons ('as...as'), Cantonese uses 同...一樣 tung4...jat1 joeng6, parallel to Mandarin 跟...一樣: 佢同我一樣高 keoi5 tung4 ngo5 jat1 joeng6 gou1 (he is as tall as me). The negative is 冇...咁 mou5...gam3: 佢冇我咁高 keoi5 mou5 ngo5 gam3 gou1 (he is not as tall as me) — this replaces Mandarin's 沒有...那麼.