Page 368 - Basic Japanese

Actually, all four of these sentences are probably best

translated the same way in English ‘Dogs are smaller than
horses,’ since the differences of emphasis in Japanese are
more subtle than those in English. But bear in mind that the

differences do exist.

Often the particle yori is followed by mo with only a slight
change of emphasis: Inu wa uma yori mo chīsai desu ‘Dogs are

smaller (yet) than horses.’
If, for the items of comparison, instead of nouns you

have two adjectives, verbs, or copulas (or their phrases),
you can follow the patterns of sentences 2, 3, and 4 above,

placing hō and yori directly after the plain imperfect form.
Type 4 is more common for copula phrases. But the pattern

of Type 1 above cannot be directly applied, since the
particle wa does not ordinarily follow the plain imperfect of

verb, adjectives, or the copula. Instead you can use the
plain imperfect + no wa:

TYPE 1:
話すのは書くより簡単でしょう。

Hanasu no wa kaku yori kantan deshō.
(1 think) it would be easier to speak than to

write.

広いのは狭いよりいいでしょう。
Hiroi no wa semai yori ii deshō.

I think it’s better spacious than small.

静かなのはきれいなのより好きです。

Shizuka na no wa kirei na no yori suki desu.
I prefer it quiet rather than pretty.

TYPE 2: