第二年第二百二十八天

[nnozomi]

语法
比起 + N (+ 来), "compared to X..." (top of page)
https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Comparisons_with_%22biqi%22

词汇
难过, sorry/upset; 难看, ugly; 难受, uncomfortable; 难题, difficult problem; 难听, unpleasant to hear 难过 nánguò, sorry/upset; 难看 nánkàn, ugly; 难受 nánshòu, uncomfortable; 难题 nántí, difficult problem; 难听 nántīng, unpleasant to hear
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-2-word-list/

Guardian:
可比起你这九十九重人格更不合理吧, it's more irrational even than your 99-fold personality
这里的情况比起龙城更惨啊, the state of affairs here is even worse than in Dragon City
你做梦的时候看起来样子很难受, you looked upset when you were dreaming

Me:
比起摇滚音乐来，我更喜欢听古典音乐。
这真的是难题，我一个人来不了。

Comments

[cathyw]

so essentially 难 is the opposite of 好 in the (adverb + verb = adjective) construct?
好看 -> attractive, 难看, ugly
好听 -> pleasant to hear, 难听, unpleasant to hear
can we then infer
好吃 or 好喝-> tasty, 难吃 or 难喝 unpleasant-tasting?

(I can, should, and did ask a dictionary and yes, yes we can infer that, there seem to be many cases of this usage.)

[grayswandir]

Yep, plus there are also some adjectives where the 难 keeps the literal meaning of "difficult"! e.g. 难免 (hard to avoid), 难说 (it's hard to say/you can never tell), 难忘 (unforgettable).

[cathyw]

although I did a little more digging through the dictionary and found that it's not universal - lots of 难+verb adjectives that don't have a corresponding 好+verb and vice versa.

[grayswandir]

Oh, yeah, that's a good point. I knew there wasn't a 好+verb equivalent for every 难+verb, but I hadn't thought about the reverse. Useful to know you can't necessarily count on those forms existing, either.

[nnozomi]

good point, and some where you can likewise use 好 as "easy"--I think 好读，难读 and so on?

[nnozomi]

难听 is the one I struggle with because its Japanese equivalent means hard-of-hearing, aargh false friends...