jabi.
Grammar Beginner TOPIK I · Level 1–2 Sejong Korean 1 · Unit 12

보다

보다: The Comparison Particle (Than)

Than — a particle that marks the baseline you are comparing against.

Before this, make sure you know: -아요 / -어요 , 이/가

How to form it

When Form Example
Noun (any batchim) N + 보다 이것보다 / 서울보다
Typical pattern A가 B보다 … 부산이 서울보다 따뜻해요

보다 on a noun means than that baseline.

우리말샘 lists it as a case particle: after a noun, for comparing things that differ, with the sense “compared to ~.”

That is the whole beginner job. The confusion is spelling, not form.

Same letters, three grammars

SpellingJobExample
보다 (particle)than이것보다 커요
보다 (verb)to see / look봐요
-어 보다try doing입어 보세요 → -어 보다

If you can put 보다 after a noun with no conjugation, you want this page.

Pattern

이것이 저것보다 커요.        This is bigger than that.
부산이 서울보다 따뜻해요.    Busan is warmer than Seoul.
운동화가 구두보다 편해요.    Sneakers are more comfortable than dress shoes.

Put 보다 on the standard you measure against. Put 이/가 (or sometimes 은/는 vs 이/가) on the thing you are claiming about.

English than often sits mid-sentence in a different order. Korean wants the baseline noun + 보다, then the predicate.

With 더

Learners often say 더 커요 with 보다. That is natural. 더 is an adverb of degree, not a second “than.”

이게 저것보다 더 싸요.     This is cheaper than that.

Shopping-unit flavour

Sejong pairs this with -지만 in a shopping unit: it’s expensive, but… and this is better than that are the same conversation. Use 보다 for product-to-product rank; use -지만 for clause-to-clause pushback.

Do not confuse it with

-어 보다

try doing — and in the past, "have you ever"

Taught alongside this

In the Sejong course this appears in 운동화를 좀 보고 싶어요 — Sejong Korean 1, Unit 12, on the theme of 쇼핑. These come with it:

-지만 but — the plain contrast, blunter than 는데

Words used above

Tap the speaker to hear it read aloud by your browser.

보다bodathan — comparison particle
더deomore (often appears with comparisons)
크다keudato be big
작다jakdato be small

Quick check

No sign-up, no score saved — just see if it stuck.

1. Which means 'This is bigger than that'?

2. How is particle 보다 different from -어 보다?

3. What particle often marks the thing being judged in a comparison?

Common questions

Do I always need 더?

Often yes in learner speech (더 커요), but 보다 already marks the comparison. 더 makes the 'more' explicit; it is common, not a second particle on the noun.

Is this the verb 보다 'to see'?

No. Same Hangul, different word class. The comparison 보다 is a particle after a noun. The verb 보다 conjugates (봐요). The auxiliary is [[g:eo-boda]].

Can 보다 follow a whole clause?

Beginner Korean sticks to noun + 보다. Clause comparisons use other patterns you will meet later — do not force English than-clauses onto this particle yet.

What about 한테보다?

Stick to clean noun + 보다 at this level (친구보다). Stacking particles is a later judgement call — not required for shopping comparisons.