Russian grammar - Predicative comparative adjectives

In English the comparative adjective is formed by adding '-er' to the end of the adjective. So from 'new' we get 'newer'.

In English these can be used anywhere in a sentence: 'This newer car' (called 'attributive'). And 'This car is newer' (called 'predicative').

Similarly in Russian adjectives can be either 'attributive' (and come before a noun) or 'predicative' (and come after a verb).

In Russian comparative adjectives are formed differently depending on whether they are 'predicative' or 'attributive'.

Forming a predicative comparative adjective is simple:

• Take the stem of the adjective and add «-ее».

These do not vary with case, gender or number.

Note that certain of the most common adjectives (like большой (big), маленький (small), хороший (good), плохой (bad) etc.) have irregular predicative comparative forms. These will be covered in a coming topic.