Уро́к 6
6.5 Grammar: Let’s compare!
Люби́мая Грамма́тика
[VIDEO] – Not on Canvas
Part I. ‘Comparative Adjectives’
What if you want to compare two things? Maybe Texas isn’t the biggest state in the USA but it’s bigger than California! It’s bigger than Oklahoma! It’s bigger than every state except Alaska, of course. And maybe UT is not the best school in the nation, but it’s better than A&M! Ha, I jest. It is the best school in the nation. 🙂
We want to look at how to compare the qualities and attributes of things and people. In extremely simplified grammatical terms, we want to learn the Russian version of English -er or more, and specifically, for now, we want to concentrate on comparatives in the predicate (after the verb). We will start simply and gradually build from there.
For example:
- Which is faster, the speed of sound or the speed of light? The speed of light is faster (than the speed of sound).
- Which is bigger, Moscow or London? Moscow is bigger (than London).
- Which language is more difficult, Russian or Chinese? Some people think Russian is more difficult. Other people think Chinese is more difficult.
In Russian, we will look at a first and very simple set of 4 comparative predicate adjectives. They are simple in that they do NOT decline (for case) and they are extremely common!!! They are not so simple in that you have to learn completely new words. English, though, is similar in this regard, if you’ll notice. How do you compare two things that are good? We don’t say one is ‘gooder’ than the other. We say better, which is the comparative (grammar speak) of ‘good’. We also have bad > worse. Things went from bad to worse, we say. Things don’t usually get *badder.
Например:
1. хоро́ший > лу́чше
| [AUDIO] – Not on Canvas | Этот фильм хоро́ший, но тот – лу́чше. |
2. плохо́й > ху́же
| [AUDIO] – Not on Canvas | Мой компью́тер плохо́й, но твой – ху́же. |
3. большо́й > бо́льше*
Note: used as an adverb ‘больше‘ means ‘more‘, as in: Мне больше нравится песня ‘Это всё она’.
| [AUDIO] – Not on Canvas | Наш дом большо́й, но их – бо́льше! |
4. ма́ленький > ме́ньше
| [AUDIO] – Not on Canvas | Эта соба́ка ма́ленькая, но та – ещё ме́ньше. |
Part II. The Russian mechanics of comparing two things
What’s GREAT is that these (4) forms don’t decline. They’re frozen forms.
Regarding the entities being compared, however, there are two ways to do it, and both are equally common and good:
Option1: “Чем”
Two entities can be compared with or without the word ‘чем’, as in:
| [AUDIO] – Not on Canvas | Како́й го́род бо́льше, Москва́ или Ло́ндон? ‘Which city is bigger, Moscow or London?’ |
| [AUDIO] – Not on Canvas | Москва́ бо́льше, чем Ло́ндон. — (Nominative Case) Moscow is bigger than London. |
Option 2: For “чем”, just use the Genitive Case!
| [AUDIO] – Not on Canvas | Москва́ бо́льше Ло́ндона. — (Genitive of thing compared) Moscow is bigger than London. |
Which version is лучше (see what I did there)?
Both versions translate the same way in English. The only difference is that with ‘чем’ the Nominative Case is used with the entity that is compared and without ‘чем’, the Genitive Case of the thing compared must be used. Both versions are equally good and very common.
Part III. Lots of examples for you.
1. Спарта́к или Зени́т?
| [AUDIO] – Not on Canvas | Кака́я кома́нда лу́чше, Спарта́к или Зени́т? |
| [AUDIO] – Not on Canvas | По-мо́ему, Зени́т лу́чше, чем Спарта́к — (Nominative Case) |
| [AUDIO] – Not on Canvas | По-мо́ему, Зени́т лу́чше Спартака́. — (Genitive of thing compared) |
2. Росси́я или Аме́рика (США)?
| [AUDIO] – Not on Canvas | Кака́я страна́ бо́льше, Росси́я или Аме́рика? |
| [AUDIO] – Not on Canvas | Росси́я бо́льше, чем Аме́рика. |
| [AUDIO] – Not on Canvas | Росси́я бо́льше Аме́рики. |
3. Москва́ или Санкт-Петербу́рг?
| [AUDIO] – Not on Canvas | Какой штат ме́ньше, Теха́с или Аля́ска? |
| [AUDIO] – Not on Canvas | Теха́с ме́ньше, чем Аля́ска. |
| [AUDIO] – Not on Canvas | Теха́с ме́ньше Аля́ски. |
3. Теха́с или Аля́ска?
| Како́й го́род бо́льше, Москва́ или Санкт-Петербу́рг? | |
| [AUDIO] – Not on Canvas | Москва́ бо́льше, чем Петербу́рг. |
| [AUDIO] – Not on Canvas | Москва́ бо́льше Петербу́рга. |
5. Кварти́ра или общежи́тие?
| Како́е место лу́чше, кварти́ра или общежи́тие? | |
| [AUDIO] – Not on Canvas | По-мо́ему, ча́стная кварти́ра лу́чше, чем общежи́тие. |
| [AUDIO] – Not on Canvas | По-мо́ему, ча́стная кварти́ра лу́чше общежи́тия. |
6. Андро́ид или ИОС?
| [AUDIO] – Not on Canvas | Кака́я систе́ма ху́же, Андро́ид или ИОС (Android or IOS)? |
7. Теха́сский университе́т А&М или университе́т Оклахо́мы
| [AUDIO] – Not on Canvas | Кака́я кома́нда ху́же, теха́сского университе́та А&М или университе́та Оклахо́мы? |
