# So với: compared with in Vietnamese (A2)

> So với means "compared with". It usually opens the sentence and names what you're measuring against; the main part follows, often with hơn: So với Hà…

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/so-voi/ · Updated 2026-10-17

**compared with**

Pattern: `So với + [B], [A] + [adjective] + hơn · [A] + [adjective] + hơn + so với + [B]`

Level: A2 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

Typed without accents: so voi

*So với* means "compared with". It usually opens the sentence and names what you're measuring against; the main part follows, often with *hơn*: *So với Hà Nội, Sài Gòn nóng hơn.* Compared with Hà Nội, Saigon is hotter.

You know *hơn*: *Sài Gòn nóng hơn Hà Nội* says the same. *So với* is handy when you want to set up the comparison first, and it also works with no *hơn* at all, like "for" in English: *So với tuổi, bé cao lắm.* She's very tall for her age. *So với người mới học, anh nói giỏi lắm.* For a beginner, you speak really well.

It can also follow *hơn*, after the adjective: *Ở đây rẻ hơn so với quận 1.* It's cheaper here than in District 1. A *thì* often follows a long *so với* part: *So với năm ngoái thì năm nay em bận hơn nhiều.*

*So với* is everyday speech, and it's also very common in the news, where it reports changes: *tăng 10% so với năm ngoái*, up 10% on last year.

## Examples

- So với Hà Nội, Sài Gòn nóng hơn. — Compared with Hà Nội, Saigon is hotter.
- So với tuổi, bé cao lắm. — She's very tall for her age.
- Ở đây rẻ hơn so với quận 1. — It's cheaper here than in District 1.
- So với năm ngoái thì năm nay em bận hơn nhiều. — I'm much busier this year than last year.

## Words in this pattern

- [so với](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/so-voi/#s_so_voi): compared with

## Compare

- [More … than: adjective + hơn](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/hon-more-than/): …er than
- [Up or down on the same period: tăng / giảm … so với cùng kỳ](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/so-voi-cung-ky/): year on year

Previous in How much, and comparing: [Another, different: khác, khác nhau](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/khac-other/)
Next in How much, and comparing: [Fairly, it's OK: cũng + adjective](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/cung-fairly-ok/)

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