Comparing two items in Japanese

Unlike in English, you don’t have to change the forms of adjectives and adverbs in order to
compare things and people in Japanese. To say “A is more . . . than B,” you just add a short
phrase that means “than B,” which is B より B yori in Japanese.

For example:
デイビッドさんは親切です。
Deibiddo-san wa shinsetsu desu.
David is kind.

デイビッドさんはエドワードさんより親切です。
Deibiddo-san wa Edowādo-san yori shinsetsu desu.
David is kinder than Edward.

Say that you want to ask a question that involves comparing two items, X and Y, as in,
Which is more . . . , X or Y? To do this, you place X と Y と X to Y to at the beginning
of the sentence and use どちらの方 dochira no hō (which one) to create a question
sentence.

For example:
ライオンとトラと、どちらの方が速く走れますか。
Raion to tora to, dochira no hō ga hayaku hashiremasu ka.
Which can run faster, lions or tigers?

You can use どっちの方 dotchi no hō, or simply どちら dochira or どっち dotchi,
instead of どちらの方 dochira no hō.

For example:

刺し身とすしと、どっちの方が好きですか。
Sashimi to sushi to, dotchi no hō ga suki desu ka.
Which do you like better, sashimi or sushi?
漢字とカタカナと、どちらが難しいですか。
Kanji to katakana to, dochira ga muzukashii desu ka.
Which is more difficult, kanji or katakana?

Answers to such questions usually start with . . . の方が . . . no hō ga, as in:

九州と四国と、どちらの方が広いですか。
Kyūshū to Shikoku to, dochira no hō ga hiroi desu ka.
Which is larger, Kyushu or Shikoku?
九州の方が広いです。
Kyūshū no hō ga hiroi desu.
Kyushu is larger.
Equivalent-degree comparison
Use the phrase 同じぐらい onaji gurai to express the equivalence of two items in
terms of the
degree of some property in an affirmative sentence. For example:
ねこは犬と同じぐらいかわいいです。
Neko wa inu to onaji gurai kawaii desu.
Cats are as cute as dogs.
By contrast, to express non-equivalence, use the particle ほど hodo along with a negative
adjective or verb. For example:
猫は犬ほどかわいくありません。
Neko wa inu hodo kawaiku arimasen.
Cats are not as cute as dogs.