{"id":5242,"date":"2014-03-24T08:23:29","date_gmt":"2014-03-24T08:23:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=5242"},"modified":"2018-08-16T15:59:02","modified_gmt":"2018-08-16T15:59:02","slug":"comparative-degree-in-russian-sayings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/comparative-degree-in-russian-sayings\/","title":{"rendered":"Comparative Degree in Russian Sayings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Within the larger subject of degrees of comparison<\/a>, I would like to concentrate on the smaller group of adjectives and adverbs that form their comparative form with the -\u0448\u0435 suffix. As you remember, the more prevalent pattern for forming the comparative is the -\u043d\u0435\u0439\/\u043d\u0435\u0435 suffix, such as \u0445\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u043e\u0434\u043d\u043e – \u0445\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u043d\u0435<\/span>\u0435<\/strong>. However, a number of high-frequency words do form their comparative degree using -\u0448\u0435, and since they feature in several Russian sayings and proverbs, why don’t we go over some of the most popular of these to help you remember the comparatives. There are several idiomatic English translation for some of them, but I will only list one.<\/p>\n

Distance (\u0414\u0430\u043b\u0435\u043a\u043e<\/span> – \u0434\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0435)<\/h2>\n

\u0422\u0438<\/span>\u0448\u0435 \u0435<\/span>\u0434\u0435\u0448\u044c – \u0434\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0435 \u0431\u0443<\/span>\u0434\u0435\u0448\u044c<\/strong> — haste makes waste, “the more slowly you go, the farther you will get”<\/p>\n

\u0427\u0435\u043c \u0434\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0435 \u0432 \u043b\u0435\u0441, \u0442\u0435\u043c \u0431\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0435 \u0434\u0440\u043e\u0432<\/strong> — “the farther into the woods, the more firewood.” This is used to talk about the complications that increase as time passes.<\/p>\n

There are also several humorous permutations of this saying, such as \u0427\u0435\u043c \u0434\u0430\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0435 \u0432 \u043b\u0435\u0441, \u0442\u0435\u043c \u0442\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u0449\u0435 \u043f\u0430\u0440\u0442\u0438\u0437\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u044b<\/strong>. \u041f\u0430\u0440\u0442\u0438\u0437\u0430\u043d\u044b<\/strong> are guerilla\/resistance fighters, usually from the World War II era. Some of them formed militias and went into the woods to sabotage the Nazi forces’ operations. \u0422\u043e\u043b\u0449\u0435<\/strong> is the comparative of \u0442\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u0441\u0442\u044b\u0439<\/strong> (fat).<\/p>\n

Less is More (\u041c\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u043e – \u043c\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u044c\u0448\u0435)<\/h2>\n

\u041c\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u044c\u0448\u0435 \u043d\u0430\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0434\u0443 – \u0431\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0435 \u043a\u0438\u0441\u043b\u043e\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0434\u0443<\/strong> — “the fewer people, the more oxygen.” Used to express relief about someone not coming or joining your party.<\/p>\n

\u041c\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u044c\u0448\u0435 \u0437\u043d\u0430<\/span>\u0435\u0448\u044c, \u043a\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u043f\u0447\u0435 \u0441\u043f\u0438\u0448\u044c<\/strong> — what you don’t know won’t hurt you; “the less you know, the better you sleep”<\/p>\n

It Gets Better (\u0425\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0448\u043e – \u043b\u0443\u0447\u0448\u0435)<\/h2>\n
<\/div>\n

\u0427\u0435\u043c \u0440\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u044c\u0448\u0435, \u0442\u0435\u043c \u043b\u0443<\/span>\u0447\u0448\u0435<\/strong> — the sooner, the better<\/p>\n

\u041b\u0443<\/span>\u0447\u0448\u0435 \u043c\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u044c\u0448\u0435, \u0434\u0430 \u043b\u0443<\/span>\u0447\u0448\u0435<\/strong> — less is more; “better less but better”<\/p>\n

\u041b\u0443<\/span>\u0447\u0448\u0435 \u0441\u0438\u043d\u0438<\/span>\u0446\u0430 \u0432 \u0440\u0443\u043a\u0430<\/span>\u0445, \u0447\u0435\u043c \u0436\u0443\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0432\u043b\u044c \u0432 \u043d\u0435<\/span>\u0431\u0435<\/strong> — a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush; “better a tit bird (Parus<\/em><\/a>) in your hands than a crane in the sky”<\/p>\n

\u041b\u0443<\/span>\u0447\u0448\u0435 \u043e\u0434\u0438<\/span>\u043d \u0440\u0430\u0437 \u0443\u0432\u0438<\/span>\u0434\u0435\u0442\u044c, \u0447\u0435\u043c \u0441\u0442\u043e \u0440\u0430\u0437 \u0443\u0441\u043b\u044b<\/span>\u0448\u0430\u0442\u044c<\/strong> — a picture is worth a thousand words; “better to see something once than to hear one hundred times”<\/p>\n

\u041b\u0443<\/span>\u0447\u0448\u0435 \u043f\u043e<\/span>\u0437\u0434\u043d\u043e, \u0447\u0435\u043c \u043d\u0438\u043a\u043e\u0433\u0434\u0430<\/span><\/strong> — better late than never<\/p>\n

\u0412 \u0433\u043e\u0441\u0442\u044f<\/span>\u0445 \u0445\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0448\u043e<\/span>, \u0430 \u0434\u043e<\/span>\u043c\u0430 \u043b\u0443<\/span>\u0447\u0448\u0435<\/strong> — there is no place like home; “it’s good to be visiting, but it’s better to be home”<\/p>\n

\u0421\u0442\u0430<\/span>\u0440\u044b\u0439 \u0434\u0440\u0443\u0433 \u043b\u0443<\/span>\u0447\u0448\u0435 \u043d\u043e<\/span>\u0432\u044b\u0445 \u0434\u0432\u0443\u0445\u00a0<\/strong> — Old friends and old wine are best; “an old friend is better than two new ones”<\/p>\n

Other Comparisons<\/h2>\n

\u0425\u0440\u0435\u043d \u0440\u0435<\/span>\u0434\u044c\u043a\u0438 \u043d\u0435 \u0441\u043b\u0430<\/span>\u0449\u0435<\/strong> — six of one, half a dozen of the other; “horseradish is no sweeter than a radish” (\u0441\u043b\u0430<\/span>\u0434\u043a\u0438\u0439 – \u0441\u043b\u0430<\/span>\u0449\u0435<\/strong>). Used to show that neither alternative is better, so might as well not switch one for the other.<\/p>\n

\u0421\u0432\u043e\u044f<\/span> \u0440\u0443\u0431\u0430<\/span>\u0448\u043a\u0430 \u0431\u043b\u0438<\/span>\u0436\u0435 \u043a \u0442\u0435<\/span>\u043b\u0443<\/strong> — charity begins at home; “your own shirt is closer to your body” (\u0431\u043b\u0438<\/span>\u0437\u043a\u043e – \u0431\u043b\u0438<\/span>\u0436\u0435<\/strong>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Within the larger subject of degrees of comparison, I would like to concentrate on the smaller group of adjectives and adverbs that form their comparative form with the -\u0448\u0435 suffix. As you remember, the more prevalent pattern for forming the comparative is the -\u043d\u0435\u0439\/\u043d\u0435\u0435 suffix, such as \u0445\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u043d\u043e – \u0445\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u043d\u0435\u0435. However, a number of high-frequency…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[7828],"tags":[257666,1195,13008],"class_list":["post-5242","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-russian-for-beginners","tag-degrees-of-comparison","tag-proverbs","tag-russian-sayings"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t