It can seem a trivial question but I am quite struggling. I would like to translate a sentence form like this one:
[noun1] is more/less [adjective1] than [noun2] is [adjective2].
It can seem a trivial question but I am quite struggling. I would like to translate a sentence form like this one:
[noun1] is more/less [adjective1] than [noun2] is [adjective2].
You can turn the adjectives into nouns and compare them like such.
[noun1] の [adjective1] さは、 [noun2] の [adjective2] さより ___ 。
For example:
ジョンさんの[賢]{かしこ}さは、メアリーさんの[美]{うつく}しさより[印象的]{いんしょうてき}だ。
John's cleverness is more impressive than Mary's beauty.
or could be written as:
ジョンさんの賢さは、メアリーさんの美しさを[上回]{うわまわ}っている。
ジョンさんの賢さは、メアリーさんの美しさ{に/より}[勝]{まさ}っている。
ジョンさんの賢さは、メアリーさんの美しさより(も)[上]{うえ}だ。John's cleverness exceeds Mary's beauty.
using the verb "to exceed". This way still shows that the best way to compare two elements in different fields is to turn them into nouns and use them as such.
I would give you a derivative idea based on the clever idea of turning the adjectives into nouns before comparing them by T.Allred, as:
ジョンさんの賢さの程度{ていど} はメアリーさんの美しさの程度より(ずっと)上だ/下だ。
The degree of John's cleverness is (much) higher/lower than that of Mary's beauty.
You can also use 優{すぐ}れている/劣{おと}っている or 上{うえ}である/下{した}である instead of 上{うえ}だ/ 下{した}だ.
If you use the clever idea more, you can express it in various ways.
ジョンさんの賢さとメアリーさんの美しさ(と)を比{くら}べると、ジョンさんの(賢さの)方{ほう}が(ずっと)上だ/下だ。
ジョンさんの賢さとメアリーさんの美しさとでは、ジョンさんの(賢さの)方{ほう}が(ずっと)上だ/下だ。
About the use of several similar expressions:
I'll show you similar expressions sentence 1 to 5. They are divided into three groups: 1, 2-3 and 4-5.
- ジョンさんの賢さとメアリーさんの美しさでは、ジョンさんが上だ。
- ジョンさんの賢さとメアリーさんの美しさでは、ジョンさんの方が上だ。
- ジョンさんの賢さとメアリーさんの美しさとでは、ジョンさんの方が上だ。
- ジョンさんの賢さとメアリーさんの美しさでは、ジョンさんの賢さの方が上だ。
- ジョンさんの賢さとメアリーさんの美しさとでは、ジョンさんの賢さの方が上だ。
Among them, group 2-3 and group 4-5 are common and natural Japanese expressions.
As for group 2-3 and group 4-5, group 2-3 is more commonly used than group 4-5, because the latter one is a little tedious.
In a group 2-3, the sentence 2 is made by omitting と in the sentence 3, and in a group 4-5, the sentence 4 is made in the same way from the sentence 5. Though the sentence 3 and 5 are grammatically more correct and formal, the sentence 2 and 4 are more commonly used.
Last but not least, as for the sentence 1, this expression makes sense, but I don't think it is appropriate to use it, because it may induce an unintended misunderstanding. The reason is that originally this expression is given as an example to compare the wisdom of John with the beauty of Mary, but the sentence has an implication that all personalities of John are superior to that of Mary, which is not the intention of the speaker.