Russian for English speakers Zoo · Lesson 1

It's taller and bigger!

Russian comparative adjectives — выше и больше (taller and bigger) — formation rules.

Conversation

  1. Cassian Cassian

    Вау, смотри, жираф выше, чем зебра

    Vau, smotri, žiraf vyše, čem zebra

    Wow, look, the giraffe is taller than the zebra

  2. Muri Muri

    У него самая длинная шея в мире

    U nego samaja dlinnaja šeja v mire

    It has the longest neck in the world

  3. Cassian Cassian

    А слон больше, чем носорог

    A slon bolʹše, čem nosorog

    And the elephant is bigger than the rhino

  4. Muri Muri

    Слон самое большое животное в мире

    Slon samoe bolʹšoe životnoe v mire

    The elephant is the biggest animal in the world

Common questions

Quick answers about this lesson's grammar and vocabulary.

How do Russian comparative adjectives work?

Add -ее/-ей for most: красивее (more beautiful). Irregular: больше (bigger), меньше (smaller), лучше (better), хуже (worse).

Russian for size comparison?

Этот выше = 'this one is taller'. X больше Y = 'X is bigger than Y' (uses genitive or 'чем' + nominative).

Common Russian comparatives?

Больше (bigger/more), меньше (smaller/less), выше (taller/higher), ниже (shorter/lower), лучше (better), хуже (worse).

Test yourself

Pick the English translation for each line from this lesson. Wrong answers are pulled from other Russian lessons.

4 quick questions on what you just heard.

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