{"id":1937,"date":"2011-03-22T06:00:56","date_gmt":"2011-03-22T06:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=1937"},"modified":"2014-07-17T14:37:45","modified_gmt":"2014-07-17T14:37:45","slug":"how-to-use-russian-adjectival-short-form","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/how-to-use-russian-adjectival-short-form\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use Russian Short Form Adjectives"},"content":{"rendered":"

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All who\u2019re scared of grammar, raise your hands. Ok, maybe raising hands is not the best idea since it prevents me from typing and you – from scrolling through this post.<\/p>\n

Anyway, \u00ab<\/strong>\u0433\u0440\u0430\u043c\u043c\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u0438\u043a\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> [grammar] can be intimidating. This goes for both learners of Russian as a second (or third or fourth) language and native Russian speakers. Just like John33317 noted in his recent comment<\/a>, many native speakers of Russian \u201caren\u2019t too sure about some things\u201d<\/em> either. And that\u2019s exactly why I try to stay away from grammar posts (ok, so now the secret is out).<\/p>\n

But like Natalie said in her post on irregular plural nouns<\/a>, grammar is absolutely necessary for language learning. So in the spirit of \u201cnothing to fear, but fear itself\u201d, what follows is a grammar post.<\/p>\n

Joerg asked for \u201csome guidelines with respect to how and when to use the short form of adjectives rather than their long form\u201d<\/em> (again, in the comments on Natalie\u2019s post).<\/p>\n

First, let\u2019s do a very quick review of adjectives in Russian:<\/p>\n

\u00ab<\/strong>\u0418<\/span><\/strong>\u043c\u044f <\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u0438\u043b\u0430\u0433\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c\u043d\u043e\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> [an adjective] is a part of speech that describes object\u2019s \u00ab<\/strong>\u0441\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0439\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> [properties]. It answers a question \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0430\u043a\u043e<\/span>\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> (singular, masculine), \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0430\u043a\u0430<\/span>\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> (singular, feminine), \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0430\u043a\u043e<\/span>\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> (singular, neuter), \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0430\u043a\u0438<\/span>\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> (plural, all genders). It means \u201cwhat kind\u201d or \u201cwhich\u201d.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, adjectives can be \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u043e\u043b\u0438<\/span>\u0447\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0435\u043d\u043d\u044b\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> [quantitative] and \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0430<\/span>\u0447\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0435\u043d\u043d\u044b\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> [qualitative]. Only qualitative adjective have short form. So in a sentence<\/p>\n

\u00ab<\/strong>\u041f\u0435<\/span>\u0440\u0432\u043e\u0433\u043e <\/strong>\u044f\u043d\u0432\u0430\u0440\u044f<\/span> <\/strong>\u0437\u0430\u043a\u0430<\/span>\u0442 <\/strong>\u0431\u044b\u043b <\/strong>\u043a\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0441\u043d\u044b\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [On the first of January the sunset was red]<\/p>\n

the adjective \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f\u0435<\/span>\u0440\u0432\u044b\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [first] does not have a short form while the adjective \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0441\u043d\u044b\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [red] does – \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0441\u0435\u043d\u00bb<\/strong> [red].<\/p>\n

To form a short form of an adjective, you start with its regular form and add gender-specific endings:<\/p>\n

\u00ab-<\/strong>\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> or \u00ab-<\/strong>\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> for feminine ones<\/p>\n

\u00ab-<\/strong>\u043e\u00bb<\/strong> or \u00ab-<\/strong>\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> for neuter ones<\/p>\n

and for masculine ones nothing is added.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a step-by-step process (assuming that your adjective is not already in the short form):<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Determine whether adjective has one of the following suffixes: –<\/strong>\u0441\u043a-, –<\/strong>\u043e\u0432-, –<\/strong>\u0435\u0432-, –<\/strong>\u043b-<\/strong> If it does, the adjective does not form a short form. If it doesn\u2019t, go to Step 2.<\/li>\n
  2. Discard the ending, but keep the root and the suffix.<\/li>\n
  3. Add gender-specific ending (see above) to form a short adjective.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So, let\u2019s say you have an adjective \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0440\u0430\u0441\u0438<\/span>\u0432\u043e\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> [singular neuter form of \u201cbeautiful\u201d] as in \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0440\u0430\u0441\u0438<\/span>\u0432\u043e\u0435 <\/strong>\u043f\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0442\u043d\u043e<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [beautiful painting].<\/p>\n

    Going through the steps:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Doesn\u2019t<\/li>\n
    2. Keep \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0440\u0430\u0441\u0438<\/span>\u0432\u00bb<\/strong> and discard the ending \u00ab-<\/strong>\u043e\u0435\u00bb<\/strong><\/li>\n
    3. Add neuter ending \u00ab-<\/strong>\u043e\u00bb<\/strong> to arrive at \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0440\u0430\u0441\u0438<\/span>\u0432\u043e\u00bb<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Doing the same for \u00ab<\/strong>\u043c\u043e\u0440\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> [plural for \u201cmarine\u201d] as in \u00ab<\/strong>\u043c\u043e\u0440\u0441\u043a\u0438<\/span>\u0435 <\/strong>\u0436\u0438\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u044b\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> [marine animals]<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. It does (has the suffix -\u0441\u043a-) and therefore does not have a short form.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        How about \u00ab<\/strong>\u043d\u043e<\/span>\u0432\u0430\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> [singular feminine for \u201cnew\u201d] as in \u00ab<\/strong>\u043d\u043e<\/span>\u0432\u0430\u044f <\/strong>\u0441\u0443<\/span>\u043c\u043a\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> [new bag]?<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Doesn\u2019t<\/li>\n
        2. Keep \u00ab<\/strong>\u043d\u043e\u0432\u00bb<\/strong> and drop the ending \u00ab-<\/strong>\u0430\u044f\u00bb<\/strong><\/li>\n
        3. Add feminine ending \u00ab-<\/strong>\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> to come up with \u00ab<\/strong>\u043d\u043e<\/span>\u0432\u0430\u00bb<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Unlike full forms, short forms of adjectives do not decline. Which is a good news for those who find declension rules overwhelming (count me in).<\/p>\n

          So how do you know when to use which form? The rules are pretty simple<\/p>\n