Comparatives are forms of and that are used to compare two things, people, ideas, situations, or actions. In English, comparatives look like this:
Maria is taller than Helen.
Maria exercises more frequently now than before.
In this post we are going to look at how to form Russian comparative adjectives and comparative adverbs. We’ll also introduce you to some of the most common ways to use them in sentences. Let’s have a look!
Comparative adjectives and adverbs show which of the two objects or actions has a more intense characteristic.
One major similarity between comparatives in Russian and in English is that there are two ways to make them: a simple form, created by adding suffixes to the adjective/adverb base (compare: “fast-er”), and a compound form, created by adding words to the adjective/adverb (compare: “more recently,” “less humid”).
To make the simple form of comparative adjectives and adverbs in Russian, you need to add one of the following endings to the base:
-ее or -ей (informal)
consonant change + -е
-ше
In Russian, adjectives and adverbs look identical in their simple comparative form, for example:
Кирилл смелее, чем Алексей.
kiRIL smiLYEye chem alikSYEY.
Kirill is braver than Alexey.
Кирилл действует смелее, чем Алексей.
kiRIL DYEYstvooyet smiLYEye chem alikSYEY.
Kirill behaves more bravely than Alexey.
There are, unfortunately, no strict rules to follow about which ending you should choose for a given adjective/adverb. There are a few generalizations that can help you guess, for example adjectives and adverbs whose base ends with г, д, к, т, х, or ст mostly take the suffix -е, but ultimately, you will just have to learn which suffix to use for each adjective or adverb.
Here are some examples of adjectives and adverbs and their simple comparative forms:
Suffix | Adjective / Adverb | Comparative |
|---|---|---|
-ее/-ей | красивый / красиво kraSEEvyi / krasEEva beautiful / beautifully | красивее / красивей kraSEEvyeye / kraSEEvyey more beautiful, more beautifully |
горячий / горячо gaRYAchiy / gariCHO hot / hotly | горячее / горячей gariCHEye / gariCHEY hotter, more hotly | |
весёлый / весело viSYOlyi / VYEsila cheerful / cheerfully | веселее / веселей visiLYEye / visiLYEY more cheerful, more cheerfully | |
consonant change + -е | строгий / строго STROgiy / STROga strict / strictly | строже STROzhe stricter, more strictly |
твёрдый / твёрдо TVYORdiy / TVYORda hard | твёрже TVYORzhe harder | |
яркий / ярко YARkiy / YARka bright / brightly | ярче YARche brighter, more brightly | |
богатый / богато baGAtyi / baGAta rich / richly | богаче baGAche richer, more richly | |
тихий / тихо TEEkhiy / TEEkha quiet / quietly | тише TEEshe quieter, more quietly | |
чистый / чисто CHEEStyi / CHEESta clean / cleanly | чище CHEEshche cleaner, more cleanly | |
-ше | ранний / рано RAniy / RAna early | раньше RANshe earlier |
высокий / высоко vySOkiy / vysaKO high / highly | выше VYshe higher, more highly | |
далёкий / далеко daLYOkiy / daliKO far away | дальше DALshe further away |
Simple comparatives in Russian never change their endings to match the gender, case, or number of the noun they describe! For example:
Толя приехал с сумкой тяжелее и больше его самого.
TOlya priYEkhal s SOOMkay tizhyLYEye i BOLshe iVO samaVO.
Tolya arrived with a bag (which was) heavier and bigger than he was himself.
Толя принёс сумку тяжелее и больше его самого.
TOlya priNYOS SOOMkoo tizhyLYEye i BOLshe iVO samaVO.
Tolya brought a bag (which was) heavier and bigger than he was himself.
Like in English, some adjectives and adverbs have irregular comparative forms in Russian:
Adjective | Adverb | Simple comparative |
|---|---|---|
Phхороший khaROshyi good | хорошо kharaSHO well | лучше LOOCHshe better |
плохой plaKHOY bad | плохо PLOkha badly | хуже KHOOzhe worse |
маленький MAlinkiy little/small | мало MAla little | меньше MYENshe less/smaller |
In everyday Russian speech, you may also run into simple comparatives with a popular prefix по- which adds “a little/a bit” to the meaning of the comparative, for instance:
пораньше
paRANshe
a little earlier
поумней
paoomNYEY
a bit smarter
понаряднее
panaRYADnyeye
a bit more dressed-up
There are some rare adjectives/adverbs that have two simple comparative forms, usually slightly different in meaning or register.
Adjective | Forms |
|---|---|
поздний / поздно POZniy / POZna late (adj.) / late (adv.) | позже POzhe later → neutral |
позднее pazNYEye later → more formal |
Some other common words that have two simple comparative forms are ранний[RAniy](early) and далёкий[daLYOkiy].
Compound comparatives are formed by putting the words более[BOliye](more) or менее[MYEniye](less) before a long form of an adjective or an adverb, for example:
Part of speech | Example word | Comparatives | |
|---|---|---|---|
Adjective | красивый kraSEEvyi beautiful | более красивый BOliye kraSEEvyi more beautiful | менее красивый MYEniye kraSEEvyi less beautiful |
Adverb | красиво kraSEEva beautifully | более красиво BOliye kraSEEva more beautifully | менее красиво MYEniye kraSEEva less beautifully |
Unlike simple comparatives, compound forms can be made from virtually any qualitative adjective. Another difference from simple comparatives is that compound ones do agree with nouns they modify in gender, number, and case. For example:
Студенты выстроились по росту: от более высоких к менее высоким.
stooDYENty VYstrailis pa ROStoo at BOliye vySOkikh k MYEniye vySOkim.
The students lined up by their height: from taller ones to less tall ones.
In English we use the word “more” not only to form compound comparatives (more happy, more quickly), but also to compare quantities of nouns (“more apples,” “more sleep”).
In Russian, however, two different words are used for these two different purposes.
Use более[BOliye](more) + an adjective / adverb:
более интересный
BOliye intiRYESnyi
more interesting
более громко
BOliye GROMka
more loudly
больше[BOLshe](bigger/more) is used to compare quantity of nouns, the size of things, or for the number of times an action takes place:
Твой дом больше моего.
tvoy dom BOLshe maiVO.
Your house is bigger than (lit. more than) mine.
Теперь у меня больше времени на спорт.
tiPYER oo minya BOLshe VRYEmini na sport.
Now I have more time for sport.
Russians use the words более или менее[BOliye EEli MYEniye] together in the same way as they are used in English with the meaning “more or less” = “almost.”
In Russian many adjectives/adverbs have both a simple and a compound comparative form. You can use these interchangeably:
выше
VYshe
taller
более высокий
BOliye vySOkiy
taller
Though simple comparatives are a bit more popular in Russian everyday speech, there is no real difference in meaning between the two.
However, there are some adjectives/adverbs in Russian that do not have a simple comparative form. Most of them have a base that ends in -ск-, -еск-, -ов-, -к-, -оньк-, -оват-, -л-, or -н-. So, if your adjective or adverb has one of these endings, you will most likely have to use a compound comparative. A couple common adjectives like this are:
дружеский
DROOzheskiy
friendly
нагловатый
naglaVAtyi
a bit insolent/cheeky
Like in English, comparatives in Russian can only be made from so-called descriptive, or qualitative, adjectives and the adverbs that are derived from them. For example:
свежий[SVYEzhyi](fresh) / свежо[sviZHO](freshly)
широкий[shyROkiy](wide) / широко[shyraKO](widely)
So, there are some adjectives and adverbs that do not have a comparative form at all. Most of these are:
Relative adjectives, which are a small group of adjectives in Russian that we use to give the type (“a coffee table”), material (“a glass door”), time (“a morning meeting”), or place (“a bedroom closet”) of a noun.
Adjectives describing a permanent or absolute quality, like мёртвый[MYORTvyi](dead), слепой[sliPOY](blind).
Comparatives can be used in a sentence in three main ways:
The most basic way to make a comparison using Russian comparatives is to use чем[chem](than), to introduce the second thing in the comparison. Things being compared using чем will always be separated by a comma. For example:
У нас в офисе теплее, чем у вас.
oo nas v Ofisye tipLYEye chem oo vas.
It is warmer in our office than it is in yours.
Ты поступил более порядочно, чем твой друг.
ty pastooPEEL BOliye paRYAdachna chem tvoy drook.
You acted more decently than your friend.
In English, object pronouns are normally used after “than.” In Russian, however, pronouns can take any case after чем. The case depends on the grammatical role the pronoun ought to take.
Ты старше, чем я.
ty STARshe chem ya.
You are older than me (lit. I).
You can also form a comparison with comparatives in Russian by putting the two things being compared on either side of a simple comparative adjective/adverb. Use the cases below:
Noun 1
nominative / accusative
comparative
Noun 2
genitive
For example:
Наш офис теплее вашего.
nash Ofis tipLYEye VAsheva.
Our office is warmer (than) yours.
Ты поступил порядочнее твоего друга.
ty pastooPEEL paRYAdachnyeye tvoiVO DROOga.
You acted more decently (than) your friend.
Она любит тюльпаны больше любых других цветов.
aNA LYUbit tyulPAny BOLshe lyuBYKH drooGEEKH tsviTOF.
She loves tulips more (than) any other flowers.
It is also possible to use a comparative without making an explicit comparison. Usually this happens with , as in:
Иди сюда скорее!
iDEE syuDA skaRYEye!
Come here, quicker!
We have looked at how to make and use comparative forms of adjectives and adverbs in Russian. Here are the key points:
Short forms of comparatives are made with suffixes -ее/-ей , -е, -ше.
Compound forms of comparatives are made by adding words более[BOliye](more) and менее[MYEniye](less) to adjectives and adverbs.
You can use comparatives in sentences with чем[chem](than), with the genitive case or with imperatives.
Ready for some practice? Download the activity sheet below!
