Do you know a Russian saying «зимой снега не допросишься»? It’s used when describing «скупой» [stingy], «жадный» [greedy] person from whom one literally can’t beg even snow in the winter. Well, we’ve had so much snow over the last weekend that I think even the worst tightwads are ready to part with some of the stuff now.
But all this snow kept us busy – we «расчищали дорожки» [were clearing the walkways], «лепили снеговика» [were making a snowman], «катались на санках» [went sledding], «играли в снежки» [had snowball fights] and «сушили одежду» [were drying our clothes] in between these activities.
With a dryer humming in the background, we sat around the kitchen table, ate «печенье» [cookies], drank «горячий чай» [hot tea] and «какао» [hot cocoa] and talked about the weather.
The consensus was that this winter was not just «холоднее, чем прошлая» [colder than the last one], but also «более снежная» [with more snow]. We also agreed that as long as we didn’t have to drive anywhere on snowy days, such turn of events was «веселее» [merrier] than a warm winter. «Самый младший» [the youngest] family member even opined that this was «самый лучший день» [the best day] in his whole entire life, all four years of it.
That last remark, combined with some New Year resolutions I’ve been putting together for myself, got me thinking about «степени сравнения прилагательных» [degrees of comparison of adjectives] in Russian language.
Now, the positive degree is a pretty straightforward one since it’s just the basic form of the adjective (or adverb) – «снежный» [snowy], «холодный» [cold], «весёлый» [cheerful].
«Сравнительная и превосходная степени гораздо интереснее.» [The comparative and superlative degrees are a lot more interesting.] To begin with, there are two distinct ways of forming these and you can, for the most part, pick and choose. By the way, it will also work for «наречия» [adverbs].
One «способ» [method] is to use suffixes and, in some cases, prefixes to come up with comparative and superlative adjectives. These suffixes include «-ее- (-ей-)-», «-е-», «-ше-» for comparative adjectives and «-ейш- (-айш-)» for superlative ones:
- Positive – «Зима в этом году холодная.» [Winter is cold this year.]
- Comparative – «В этом году зима холоднее, чем в прошлом» [This year’s winter is colder than last years’ one.]
- Superlative – «Зима в этом году – холоднейшая за всю историю нашего города.» [This year’s winter is the coldest in the history of our town.]
- Positive – «Новый Год – мой любимый праздник» [New Year is my favorite holiday]
- Comparative – «Любимее Нового Года у меня праздника нет» [I have no holiday more favorite than New Year]
- Superlative – «Новый Год – мой любимейший праздник» [New Year is my most favorite holiday]
You can also form a superlative using comparative adjective + the word “всех” [all]. That’s exactly what was done in the headline above. The article is about Chinese athletes’ strong performance in 2008 Olympics and the article’s title can be translated as “Faster, Higher, Stronger Than All”, a play on the Olympics slogan «Citius, Altius, Fortius!»
I love building new words with suffixes, but it doesn’t always work:
«Хороший» [good] – «лучше» [better; adverb] – «лучший» [the best]
«Плохой» [bad] – «хуже» [worse; adverb] – «худший» [the worst]
Plus there are quite a few adjectives that simply refuse to be augmented this way (if you get bored with this list, skip it to find a simple solution):
- Adjectives with the suffix «-ск-» or «-зк-» - «дружеский» [friendly], «вражеский» [hostile], «скользкий» [slippery];
- Some adjectives with the suffix «-н-» – «ручной» [handmade, also domesticated], «лишний» [excessive], «больной» [ill];
- Adjectives with the suffix «-ов-» or «-ев-» – «деловой» [business-like], «рядовой» [regular], «массовый» [large scale];
- Many verbal adjectives with the suffix «-л-», such as «гнилой» [rotten], «усталый» [tired], «хриплый» [hoarse];
- And a few other strays, including «гордый» [proud] and «робкий» [timid].
With so many exceptions, it might be «проще» [easier] to find another way. Fortunately, there is just such an option that allows you to skip my list of exceptions. (You can use this saved time to finally finish your list of New Year resolutions.)
This other method is called analytical method and consists of getting a bit «более многословный» [more verbose]. See, I just did it – «более» [more] is the extra word you’d add to the adjective’s positive form to form the comparative degree. Its opposite is «менее» [less].
- «Более интересного объяснения я еще не читала» [I’m yet to read a more interesting explanation]
- «В ярком свете фонаря она показалась менее привлекательной» [In the bright light of a street lamp she appeared less attractive]
For superlative degree, add «наиболее» [the most], «наименее» [the least] or «самый» [the very].
- «Наиболее вкусным получился борщ по Наташиному рецепту» [The tastiest borsch was from Natasha’s recipe]
- «Грамматика всегда была для меня наименее интересным предметом» [For me grammar was always the least interesting subject]
- «Прошел конкурс на самую красиво украшенную ёлку» [A contest was held for the best-decorated Christmas tree.]
And now it’s time for some «домашнее задание» [homework] - use your newfound knowledge to come up with adjectives that adequately describe our blog. (Bonus points are given for superlatives.)
