The Incomparable Russian Comparative |
As in all languages, most Russian qualitative adjectives may undergo comparison. Only qualitative adjectives may be compared because only this type of adjective refers to qualities of objects which may vary in degrees. Qualitiative adjectives also generate nouns (fairness, adverbs (fairly), and may be used in predicate position (Fred is fair). Only this type of noun is subject to comparison. Relative adjectives, like budgetary, rural, dental, which share none of these relations, are not subject to comparison.
There is also a semantic test of comparability. In order to be comparable, a qualitative adjective must refer to a variable, not absolulte, quality. Infinite in the phrase infinite wisdom, even though it bespeaks a quality, it can't be compared since it refers to an absolute, not a variable, quality. Of course, we create language, so we can do what we like with it and we do say things like more infinite and more absolute. However, these are not true comparatives; we mean "more nearly infinite", "more nearly absolute", something quite different from the comparative. The true comparative means "having more of the quality named by the adjective".
Most languages with the grammatical category of comparison have three degrees of comparison: positive, comparative, and superlativeof this I'm comparatively positive. The positive degree in English is expressed by the preposition as: an aardvark as smart as mine. The comparative degree is illustrated by an aardvark smarter than mine, and the superlative degree by the smartest aardvark in town. Russian has all three degrees.
Accentuating the Positive (Degree) |
The Russian positive degree represents two objects as equal in the given quality: my aardvark is as smart as yours. It is expressed by the short form of the adjective and the conjunctions так . . . как or такой . . . какой and the long form. The following examples are illustrative.
У него сестра так (же) крепка, как и моя. 'His sister is as strong as mine.' |
У него сестра такая же крепкая, как и моя. 'His sister is as strong as mine' |
Just remember that you must use такой with the long form adjective and так with the short form.
The Comparative Degree |
The comparative degree also differs depending upon whether you use the long or short form of the adjective. The long comparative is simple: you just add более 'more' before the long-form adjective:
Саша более ленивый рабочий чем я. 'Sasha is a lazier worker than me.' |
Саша более ленивый чем брат. 'Sasha is lazier than his brother'. |
The regular short form of the comparative degree is written -ee but pronounced -ей; in fact, it is written -ей on one word: скорей 'quicker'. This ending replaces the feminine short-form ending and therefore regular comparatives have the same accent placement as the feminine short-form adjective.
Regular Short Form Comparative Adjectives | |||
Base Form | Masculine Short Form |
Feminine Short Form |
Comparative |
умный | умён | умна | умнее |
быстрый | быстр | быстра | быстрее |
медленный | медлен | медленна | медленнее |
новый | нов | нова | новее |
скучный | скучен | скучна | скучнее |
The Irregular Short Comparative Form
The so-called 'irregular' adjectives are less predictable but still are characterized by general regularity. In general, they are recognized by the ending -e preceded by palatalization. They tend to be short, commonplace adjectives which end on those consonants subject to palatalization. The suffix -ок is dropped but -кий is not. The accent on irregular comparative adjectives is always on the second syllable from the end. The following table lists all the irregular adjectives in Russian with their antonyms, regular or irregular.
Irregular Short Form Comparative Adjectives | ||||
Adjective | Gloss | Adverb | Feminine | Comparative |
близкий | near | близко | близка | ближе |
далёкий | far, distant | далеко | далека | дальше |
большой | big, large | велико | велика | больше, более |
маленький | little, small | мало | мала | меньше, менее |
высокий | high, tall | высоко | высока | выше |
низкий | low, short | низко | низка | ниже |
глубокий | deep | глубоко | глубока | глубже |
мелкий | shallow | мелко | мелка | мельче |
громкий | loud | громко | громка | громче |
тихий | quiet | тихо | тиха | тише |
дорогой | expensive | дорого | дорога | дороже |
дешёвый | cheap | дёшево | дешева | дешевле |
короткий | short (space) | коротко | коротка | короче |
краткий | short (time) | кратко | кратка | кратче |
длинный | long (space) | длинно | длинна | длинее |
долгий | long (time) | долго | долга | дольше, долее |
крепкий | strong | крепко | крепка | крепче |
слабый | weak | слабо | слаба | слабее |
лёгкий | light, easy | легко | легка | легче |
тяжёлый | heavy | тяжело | тяжела | тяжелее |
трудный | difficult | трудно | трудна | труднее |
молодой | young | молодо | молода | моложе |
старый | old | старо | стара | старше, старее |
мягкий | soft | мягко | мягка | мягче |
твёрдый | hard | твёрдо | тверда | тверже |
жёсткий | hard (seat) | жёстко | жестка | жёсче |
простой | simple | просто | проста | проще |
сложный | complex | сложно | сложна | сложнее |
редкий | rare, thin (soup) | редко | редка | реже |
частый | frequent | часто | часта | чаще |
густой | thick (soup) | густо | густа | гуще |
толстый | fat, thick | толсто | толста | толще |
тонкий | thin, slim | тонко | тонка | тоньше |
хороший | good | хорошо | хороша | лучше |
плохой | bad | плохо | плоха | хуже |
широкий | wide | широко | широка | шире |
узкий | narrow | узко | узка | уже |
поздний | late | поздно | поздна | позже |
ранний | early | рано | . . . | раньше |
богатый | rich | богато | богата | богаче |
бедный | poor | бедно | бедна | беднее |
чистый | clean, pure | чисто | чиста | чище |
грязный | dirty, impure | грязно | грязна | грязнее |
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The Third Degree: Superlative |
Besides the addition of the word самый in the formation of the superlative degree, e. g. самый чистый, самая красивая, самое длинное, you can also add the suffixes -ейший and -айший to all qualitative adjectives in order to derive the superlative. The suffix -айший is added to adjective stems ending on the three velars (к г х). The velars are then palatalized (к > ч, г > ж, х > ш). The suffix -ейший is added to all other qualitative adjectives.
Base Form | Gloss | Superlative | Gloss |
тихий | quiet | тишайший | quietest |
высокий | tall, high | высочайший | tallest, highest |
редкии | rare, weak | редчайший | rarest, weakest |
The suffixes -ок, -к are deleted in only two forms:
Base Form | Gloss | Superlative | Gloss |
близкий | near, close | ближайший | nearest, closest |
узкий | narrow, tight | ужайший | narrowest, tightest |
Adjectives whose stems end on all other consonants receive the suffix -ейший.
Base Form | Superlative |
толстый | толстейший |
глупый | глупейший |
интересный | интереснейший |
синий | синейший |
сложный | сложнейший |
простой | простейший |
The accent falls on the same syllable as it falls on in the feminine short form.
Comparative Constructions in Russian |
How to Say 'Than' in Russian
There are two ways to express the the comparative function, i. e. 'than', in Russian. If two nouns are being compared, the second one may simply be placed in the genitive case:
Маша выше Ирины 'Masha is taller than Irene' Иван умнее Бориса 'Ivan is smarter than Boris' |
The preposition чем plus the nominative may be used in all comparative constructions:
Маша выше, чем Ирина 'Masha is higher than Irene' Иван бегает быстрее, чем Борис 'Ivan runs faster than Boris' Озеро шире, чем длинее 'The lake is wider than long' |
Here is a catalog of other expressions used with comparative adjectives in Russian.
How to Say 'Even More'
In Russian the word for 'even' is ещё:
Маша ешё выше чем Ирина 'Masha is even taller than Irene' |
To say things like 'the more the merrier' in Russian you use the conjunction set чем . . . тем
Чем скорей тем лучше 'The sooner the better' |
Чем больше тем лучше The more the better' |
To say 'as possible', Russians use the phrase как можно before the comparative form of the adjective, as the following examples illustrate:
как можно раньше 'as soon as possible' как можно лучше 'as good as possible' |
To emphasize the extent to which A is superior to B in a comparative construction, insert the word гораздо or, in colloquial Russian, куда before the comparative adjective.
Маша гораздо лучше говорит по-английски чем Ваня. 'Masha speaks English much better than Vanya.' Валя куда умнее Володи. 'Valya is lots smarter than Volodya' |
To compare two objects or actions by specific amounts, на plus the accusative is used to denote the dimensions by which A is superior to B.
Алла тяжелее Орфы на 2 килограмма. 'Alla is heavier than Orpha by 2 kilos' |
Валя на много умнее Володи. 'Valya is smarter than Volodya by a lot (long shot).' |
Now You Play with Comparison |
Here are some exercises to play with to see if you are picking up the irregular comparative adjectives and adjective constructions. Beware: a couple of them require two words rather than one.