Comparisons

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Bigger, Better, Faster ...

saburinasanhamahoutsukaisamayorikireidesu. "Sabrina is prettier than the wizard."

sashimihaikayorioishiidesu. "Sashimi is tastier than squid."

Essentially, A yori means "than A".

Not So Fast ...

mahoutsukaisamayorisaburinasannohougakireidesu. "The wizard is not as pretty as Sabrina."

ikayorisashiminohougaoishiidesu. "Squid is not as tasty as sashimi."

Essentially, A yori means "than A" in this pattern too. nohouga is also part of the pattern. Unlike the previous pattern, this does not define a new topic, so can be used as a subordinate clause.

watashihaikayorisashiminohougasukidesu. "I don't like squid as much as sashimi."

Nearly, But Not Quite

saburinasanhamahoutsukaisamahodoyumeijyaarimasen. "Sabrina is not (quite) as famous as the wizard."

Note that in this pattern the verb (or i-adjective) is negative. Although the literal translation is "A is not as X as B", there is the strong implication that A does not fall far short.

To illustrate this point, one could not say ikahasashimihodooishikunaidesu, "squid is not as tasty as sashimi", because although it is grammatically correct in Japanese and semantically correct in English, it is semantically incorrect in Japanese. Squid is horrible and sashimi delicious.

Biggest, Best, Fastest

tabemonononakadesashimigaichibanoishiidesu. "Sashimi is the tastiest food."

yuushyokunohitononakadesaburinasangaichibankireideshita. "Sabrina was the prettiest person at dinner."

The grammatical bits forming the pattern are nonakade, (where naka means "inside", "middle" or "belly"), and ichiban, "first" or "most".

This One? That One?

saburinasantomahoutsukaisamatodochiragayumeidesuka. "Who is more famous, Sabrina or the wizard?"

saburinasanhaikatosashimitodochiragasukidesuka. "Sabrina, which do you like better, squid or sashimi?"

saburinasanhateiburunoodorunotonugunotodochiragahazukashiideshitaka. "Sabrina, which was more embarrassing, dancing on the table or undressing?" hazukashii is "embarrassing".

dochira, literally "which way", asks for a comparison (which may be factual information or personal preference) between two named things.