There is a time in your life when you feel like you want to compliment someone, either because of they were very nice, for cooking something delicious, or even because they look good. In previous lesson most popular phrases to use when dating a Russian, we already give you the example to use while complimenting someone. Something general like “Ты выглядишь красиво” (You look beautiful) or even more specific “У тебя такие прекрасные глаза” (You have such beautiful eyes).
Here in this lesson we gonna show you about adjectives in comparative and superlatives form. Before we dive in more, first I’m gonna tell you what is adjective. An adjective is a word used to describe a noun or pronoun, for example “a beautiful dress”, “a big house”.
Comparative
Comparative in Russian language is used to compare things or phenomena.
[table]
[tr][th]English[/th] [th]Russian[/th] [th]-[/th] [th]Russian[/th] [th]English[/th][/tr]
[tr][td]better[/td] [td]лучше[/td] [td]from[/td] [td]хороший[/td] [td]good[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]worse[/td] [td]хуже[/td] [td]from[/td] [td]плохой[/td] [td]bad[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]larger[/td] [td] больше[/td] [td]from[/td] [td]большой[/td] [td]large[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]smaller[/td] [td]меньше[/td] [td]from[/td] [td]маленький[/td] [td]small[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]longer[/td] [td]длиннее[/td] [td]from[/td] [td]длинный[/td] [td]long[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]shorter[/td] [td]короче[/td] [td]from[/td] [td]короткий[/td] [td]short[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]quicker[/td] [td]быстрее[/td] [td]from[/td] [td]быстрый[/td] [td]quick[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]slower[/td] [td]медленнее[/td] [td]from[/td] [td]медленный[/td] [td]медленный[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]stronger[/td] [td]крепче[/td] [td]from[/td] [td]крепкий[/td] [td]strong[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]more beautiful[/td] [td]красивее[/td] [td]from[/td] [td]красивый[/td] [td]beautiful[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]cheaper[/td] [td]дешевле[/td] [td]from[/td] [td]дешевый[/td] [td]cheap[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]more expensive [/td] [td]дороже[/td] [td]from[/td] [td]дорогой[/td] [td]expensive[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]easier[/td] [td]легче[/td] [td]from[/td] [td]легкий[/td] [td]easy[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]more difficult[/td] [td]труднее[/td] [td]from[/td] [td]трудный[/td] [td]difficult[/td][/tr]
[/table]
You can added ‘than’ to make a sentence with comparative. ‘Than’ in Russian is чем.
Example :
• Ваша комната лучше, чем наша.
‘Vasha komnata luchshe, chem nasha.’
(Your room is better than ours.)
• Петербург красивее, чем Москва.
‘Peterburg krasivee, chem Moskva.’
(Petersburg is more beautiful than Moscow.)
But in daily conversation, instead of using чем + nominative case, Russian preferred to use genitive case without чем.
Example :
• Ваша комната лучше нашeй.
‘Vasha komnata luchshe nashej’.
(Your room is better than ours.)
• Петербург красивее Москвы.
‘Peterburg krasivee Moskvy.’
(Petersburg is more beautiful than Moscow.)
Besides using a certain comparative word, you can also add the word ‘more’ более in front of the adjectives.
Example :
• Сумка более дешёвая.
‘Sumka bolee deshjovaja.’
(The bag is cheaper.)
If you want to use более ‘more’ to compare something, you better put the word than in ‘чем’ , not in the genitive form.
Example :
• Nike более дорогой бренд, чем Adidas.
‘Nike bolee dorogoj brend, chem Adidas.’
(Nike is a more expensive brand than Adidas.)
• Елена более интересная женщина, чем Сильвия.
‘Elena-bolee interesnaja zhenshhina, chem Sil’vija.’
(Elena is a more interesting woman than Sylvia.)
Special Comparatives
When used before a noun, there are few adjectives that can not be used with более ‘more’ construction.
[table]
[tr][th]Russian[/th] [th]English[/th] [th]Russian[/th] [th]English[/th][/tr]
[tr][td]плохой[/td] [td]bad[/td] [td]худший[/td] [td]worse[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]хороший [/td] [td]good[/td] [td]лучший[/td] [td]better[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]маленький[/td] [td]small[/td] [td]меньший[/td] [td]smaller[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]большой[/td] [td]big[/td] [td]больший[/td] [td]bigger[/td][/tr]
[/table]
Example :
• Ева живёт в большей квартире.
‘Eva zhivjot v bol’shej kvartire.’
(Eva lives in a bigger flat.)
but if there is no noun following these four adjectives, the comparatives худший, лучший, меньший, больший must be replaced with хуже, лучше, меньше, большe.
Superlative
Superlative indicates something or someone has a greater quality than anything compared to it. You can simply put ‘самый’ the very in front of the adjective. Since the word самый is adjective, so it has the same gender, number, and case as the adjective which comes after it.
Example :
• Самый вкусный торт в городе.
‘Samyj vkusnyj tort v gorode.’
(The most delicious cake in town.)
• Я поговорил с самой красивой девушкой.
‘Ja pogovoril s samoj krasivoj devushkoj.’
(I talked to the prettiest girl.)
• Я видел самую большую собаку в моей жизни.
‘Ja videl samuju bol’shuju sobaku v moej zhizni.’
(I saw the biggest dog in my life.)
• Tы самая красивая девушка в моей жизни.
‘Ty samaja krasivaja devushka v moej zhizni’
(You are the most beautiful girl in my life.)
An adjective is a kind of word you can use in your daily conversation to describe something. You can express your admiration with an adjective completed with comparative and superlative construction. Besides learning about comparative and superlative you can also learn their language in how to use the word “Чтобы”, the use of preposition “-По” in Russian , and don’t forget about their culture on symbols and tradition of new year in Russian.