Russian Adjectives: Comparative and Superlative Forms

In Russian, adjectives can be used to compare people, things, and ideas. There are two main ways to form the comparative:

• Compound comparative: бо́лее / ме́нее + adjective
• Simple comparative: a shorter form, often used in everyday speech

To form the superlative, Russian uses са́мый + adjective.

For example:

• сла́дкий — sweet
• бо́лее сла́дкий / сла́ще — sweeter
• са́мый сла́дкий — the sweetest

Compound comparative

The compound comparative is formed with бо́лее + adjective ("more…") or ме́нее + adjective ("less…"):

• бо́лее интере́сный — more interesting
• ме́нее ва́жный — less important
• бо́лее сла́дкий — sweeter

This form is easy to understand because it looks similar to English: more + adjective.

Since the adjective after бо́лее / ме́нее is a normal full adjective, it still agrees with the noun in gender, number, and case — only бо́лее / ме́нее itself stays unchanged:

• бо́лее интере́сный фильм — a more interesting film (masculine)
• бо́лее интере́сная кни́га — a more interesting book (feminine)
• бо́лее интере́сное зада́ние — a more interesting task (neuter)
• бо́лее интере́сные иде́и — more interesting ideas (plural)

Simple comparative

Very often, Russian uses the simple comparative form instead of бо́лее + adjective. This form is also used for adverbs, and it doesn't change for gender, number, or case, which makes it especially convenient.

Basic pattern: stem + -ее

• дли́нный — длинне́е — longer
• бе́дный — бедне́е — poorer
• краси́вый — краси́вее — more beautiful
• серьёзный — серьёзнее — more serious
• Э́та кни́га интере́снее. — This book is more interesting.
• Экза́мен был трудне́е. — The exam was harder.

A quick note: this works for adverbs too

The simple comparative form doesn't only describe things — it also describes actions. Э́тот дом краси́вее (this house is more beautiful — a thing) and Она́ поёт краси́вее (she sings more beautifully — an action) use the exact same word. So the form you just learned does double duty: it's both the comparative adjective and the comparative adverb. One form, two jobs — nothing new to memorize.

Irregular and common comparative forms

Learn these first — seriously. These irregular forms aren't optional extras. They're some of the most-used words in the entire language — лу́чше, ху́же, бо́льше, ме́ньше, ста́рше come up in almost every conversation, every day. If you memorize only one thing from this article, make it these. That's exactly why I made a Quizlet set just for them: you can download it and drill them, or use any other method you like — flashcards, writing them out, whatever works for you. Just get them into your memory, because you'll need them constantly.

• большо́й / мно́го — бо́льше — bigger / more
• ма́ленький / ма́ло — ме́ньше — smaller / less
• хоро́ший / хорошо́ — лу́чше — better
• плохо́й / пло́хо — ху́же — worse
• ста́рый — ста́рше — older
• молодо́й — моло́же — younger
• дорого́й — доро́же — more expensive
• сла́дкий — сла́ще — sweeter
• просто́й — про́ще — simpler / easier
• дешёвый — деше́вле — cheaper
• коро́ткий — коро́че — shorter
• бога́тый — бога́че — richer
• ти́хий — ти́ше — quieter
• высо́кий — вы́ше — higher / taller
• ни́зкий — ни́же — lower
• далёкий — да́льше — farther / further
• бли́зкий — бли́же — closer
• ре́дкий — ре́же — rarer / less often
• по́здний — поздне́е / по́зже — later

Related adjective forms

You may also see forms such as: бо́льший, ме́ньший, лу́чший, ху́дший, ста́рший, мла́дший.

These aren't the ordinary simple comparative forms used in basic comparison. They behave like adjectives with their own specific meanings — and some of them (ста́рший, мла́дший especially) have drifted far enough that they're really separate words now, not just "the comparative of старый/молодой." For example:

• ста́рший брат — elder brother
• мла́дшая сестра́ — younger sister
• лу́чший студе́нт — the best student

So don't reach for ста́рший when you simply mean "older than" — that's ста́рше. Use ста́рший only in the fixed "elder / senior" sense.

Superlative form

To express "the most…", Russian commonly uses са́мый + adjective:

• са́мый дли́нный — the longest
• са́мый сла́дкий — the sweetest
• са́мый интере́сный — the most interesting

Са́мый agrees with the noun in gender, number, and case, just like any adjective: са́мая краси́вая пе́сня, са́мое ва́жное сло́во.

One thing самый does NOT do

You just saw that са́мый makes the superlative of an adjective (са́мый бы́стрый — the fastest). But it doesn't work for actions. To say someone does something "the best" or "the fastest," Russian uses a different structure — лу́чше всех, быстре́е всех, лу́чше всего́ — not са́мый. Compare: са́мый бы́стрый бегу́н (the fastest runner — describes the person) vs он бе́гает быстре́е всех (he runs the fastest — describes the action). That's a whole topic on its own, so I'll cover adverbs properly in a separate article — for now, just don't reach for са́мый when you're talking about how someone does something.

Using чем to mean "than"

To compare two things directly, Russian often uses comparative + чем:

• Я краси́вее, чем он. — I am more beautiful than he is.
• Моё зада́ние лу́чше, чем твоё. — My task is better than yours.

Note the comma before чем in standard written Russian.

Comparison with the genitive case

Russian can also express comparison without чем. In this case, the second noun goes into the genitive case. (Here's how to form it: Genitive Case: Basics – Nouns and Personal Pronouns.)

• Ле́то тепле́е, чем весна́. = Ле́то тепле́е весны́. — Summer is warmer than spring.
• Уро́к про́ще, чем экза́мен. = Уро́к про́ще экза́мена. — A lesson is easier than an exam.
• Авто́бус бо́льше, чем маши́на. = Авто́бус бо́льше маши́ны. — A bus is bigger than a car.

This construction is shorter and very common.

The pattern чем…, тем…

To express "the more…, the more…" (or "the …er, the …er"), Russian uses чем + comparative…, тем + comparative…:

• Чем бо́льше чита́ешь, тем умне́е стано́вишься. — The more you read, the smarter you become.
• Чем сла́ще фру́кты, тем они́ вкусне́е. — The sweeter the fruits, the tastier they are.
• Чем ра́ньше ложи́шься спать, тем лу́чше себя́ чу́вствуешь. — The earlier you go to bed, the better you feel.
• Чем вы́ше у меня́ оце́нки, тем я дово́льнее. — The higher my grades are, the more satisfied I am.

Important rule: avoid double comparatives

One common mistake is combining two comparative forms in the same phrase.

Incorrect: бо́лее лу́чше, бо́лее мла́дше, бо́лее удобне́е

Correct — either the simple form alone: лу́чше, мла́дше, удобне́е

Or бо́лее + the plain adjective: бо́лее хоро́ший, бо́лее молодо́й, бо́лее удо́бный

In practice, the simple comparative is usually more natural and more common in everyday Russian.

Ready to practice?

Reading about grammar is one thing — using it is where it really clicks. I've put together free Russian exercises on all sorts of topics: cases, verbs, numbers, vocabulary and more. Pick whatever you're working on, give it a try, and check your answers as you go.