In the Russian language, qualitative adjectives* often possess two forms: a long one, and a short one. A qualitative adjective is used to describe a feature, or quality, of a noun (that is, a person, place, or thing). The difference between long and short-form adjectives in Russian isn’t particularly complex. In general, they both possess the same meaning in terms of the definition of the adjective. However, there are times where they diverge in meaning, or differ in terms of their temporal application (that is, the duration of time for which they apply to the subject).
If you apply the rules below, you can’t go wrong(!)
When is a long adjective used in Russian?
The long form of a Russian adjective is used…
1.
To describe permanent, constant, or general characteristics of a
person, or an object. (Long duration)
Consider the following examples.
He is a good person. – Он хороший.
A long adjective is used because the subject’s character, something which generally remains stable, is described.
If you wish to use describe a non-permanent characteristic of a person using a long form, you’ll need to insert an adverbial time-marker, such as сейчас – now, сегодня – today.
For example:
He is a cheerful person. – Он весёлый.
He looks cheerful. – Он весел. (He looks happy right now – short adjective)
He looks cheerful. Он сейчас весёлый (He looks happy right now – long adjective with an adverbial time-marker)
To describe a person as ‘холодный’ ( the long form of the adjective for cold) carries the connotation that they are cold-hearted.
Using the short form adjective ‘холоден’, clarifies that the person feels cold (temporarily, as a result of the ambient temperature). However, the dative case would ordinarily be used to describe a person’s physical state such as temperature in the form of an impersonal passive construction. That is to say that in Russian, the language regards the subject as being the recipient of the feeling; the feeling is ‘transferred’ to the subject. Hence the following construction:
I am cold. – Мне холодно* (Literally: to me, cold )
*This is the neuter form of the short adjective.
Further examples of permanent, constant, or general characteristics of a person, or an object are provided below:
Our hotel guests have unrestricted access to the internet. – Гости нашего отеля имеют свободный доступ в интернет.
In my opinion, mathematics is a difficult subject. – На мой взгляд, математика – сложный предмет.
He is a happy child. – Он счастливый ребенок.
2. As an attributive adjective , appearing before a noun, in order to describe it. Short adjectives are generally not used in this position.
For example:
She is a beautiful woman. – Она красивая женщина.
He would make a horrible boyfriend. – Он был бы ужасным парнем.
I have incredible friends. – У меня невероятные друзья.
My brother has an ugly car. – У моего брата ужасная машина.
The appearance of a long adjective in the predicate position (i.e. after the linking verbs быть* and стать) would be awkward for a native speaker of Russian. However, that is not to say that it is unheard of, or ungrammatical.
For example:
I am very hungry, but I can’t eat anything because I am
fasting. – Я очень голодна, но я не могу ничего есть,
потому что я постюсь.
3. In informal conversation in the spoken language.
Short adjectives can easily sound like relics from the past as they are more commonly used in literary works from the 19th century for example.
For example:
Tanya is very sociable. – Таня очень общительная. (In general)
My grandparents are very kind. – Мои бабушки очень добрые. (In general)
When is a short adjective used in Russian?
The short form of a Russian adjective is used…
1. To describe temporary characteristics of nouns. That is, the reliability of the description provided by the adjective may be limited in some way, or dependent on external factors – e.g. something may be beautiful, but only – or more so – during a particular season and something may be useful, but only if used correctly etc. (Temporally limited duration)
For example:
He is a very busy man. – Он очень занятой человек.
I was very happy to hear from my relatives from Australia last night. – Вчера вечером я был очень рад услышать от своих родственников из Австралии. (Short adjective, because the emotion is temporally limited – the subject experienced a fleeting sense of happiness)
She is very lazy in class. – Она очень ленива в классе. (Short adjective, because the laziness is temporally limited; the description specifically concerns the subject’s character in the classroom)
She is very lazy. – Она очень ленивая. ( Long adjective, because no conditions are attached to the subject’s laziness; it is expressed as a general character trait)
2.
In the predicate, after the linking verbs быть* and стать, irrespective
of the tense (past, present, or future).
For example:
The meeting was very important. – Встреча была очень важна.
She became very angry. – Она стала очень злой.
*Быть is not used in the present tense in Russian. However, you should nonetheless use the short form of the adjective.
3.
More commonly, in formal, literary works and songs.
For example:
It is no accident that Titian’s velvet is dark red and its brown tint is like rusting blood. – Недаром темно-красен
бархат у Тициана и коричнев его отлив, как ржавеющая
кровь.
The Space Of Euclid,
K. S. Petrov-Vodkin
4. With the following pronouns: это* – it, this, or that , всё – always, all the time, only, just, что, одно, другое, то.
*The demonstrative pronoun это always requires
the neuter short form.
For example:
That is understandable / makes sense. – Это понятно.
It is very difficult. – Это очень трудно.
It
is a sustained trend. – Этот тренд устойчив
.
Everything
was clear. – Всё было ясно.
5. When the adjective is not followed by a noun.
For example:
She is a beautiful woman. – Она красива. ✅ (Correct use of a short adjective; no noun follows)
She is a beautiful woman. – Она красива женщина. ❌ (Incorrect use of a short adjective; it He’shappy because we are going to the park now. – Он счастлив, потому что мы сейчас идем в парк.(right now).
Ты болен? – Do you feel sick?
I feel sick. – Я болен.
Ты больной? – Have you lost your mind?
6.
Immediately before an infinitive verb.
For example:
She studies hard to get good marks. – Она усердно учится, чтобы получить хорошие оценки.
It is too late to go to the concert now. – Уже слишком поздно идти на концерт.
He is always ready to help. – Он всегда готов помочь.
She is far too young to drive a car! – Она слишком молода, чтобы водить машину!
My grandparents are too old to work. – Мои бабушка и дедушка слишком стары для работы.
I am too tired to do my homework. – Я слишком устала, чтобы делать домашнее задание.
7. In fixed expressions and turns of phrases.
For example:
I’ll be brief. – Буду краток
Her Instagram account is popular. – Её счет в Инстаграм популярен.
He is a known blogger. – Он известен как блогер.
Business isn’t going well. – Плохи мои дела (Literally: Bad my affairs go)
I agree. – Я согласен (masculine) / согласна (feminine).
You’re mistaken. – Ты неправ (masculine) / неправа (feminine). вы не правы (formal / plural).
The parents of the children at the school are very unhappy with the new protocol. – Родители детей в школе очень недовольны новым протоколом.
Are you busy? – Вы заняты?
Are you free? – Вы свободны?
Lunch is ready. – Обед готов.
Life is full of opportunities; be ready to grab them when they arrive. – Жизнь полна возможностей; будьте готовы схватить их, когда они прибудут.
8.
When followed by prepositions.
For example:
I am ready for a challenge. – Я готов к вызову.
Your bag is similar to my bag. – Твоя сумка похожа на мою.
He is well-acquainted with the new system. – Он хорошо знаком с новой системой.
I don’t agree with him. – Я не согласен с ним. / Я с ним не согласен. (The sentence may also be rearranged so that the preposition с does not immediately follow the short adjective)
He is really good at science. – Он силен в науке . (Literally: he is strong at science)
9.
When the subject is defined by one of the following words:
всяк
,
подобный
.
For example:
It’s every man for himself on the battlefield once the bullets run out. – Всяк человек за себя на поле боя, как только кончаются пули.
I bought a similar bag last week. – Я купил подобную сумку на прошлой неделе.
10. To describe an action typically expressed by a gerund in English, where a noun would be used in place of the gerund in Russian and would be followed by a long adjective which describes the noun.*
For example:
Living in the middle of the nowhere can be lonely. – Жизнь в отдалённом районе может быть одинокой.
Reading is my favourite pastime. – Чтение – моё любимое занятие.
Smoking cigarettes is bad for you. – Курение сигарет вредно для здоровья.
*As a side note, if the English gerund were to be expressed by the infinitive in Russian, an adverb would be used instead of
a long adjective, as the adverb answers the question Как? – What is it like living in the city centre?
For example, a sentence we encountered above would change as follows:
Living in the middle of the nowhere can be lonely. – Жить в отдалённом районе может быть одиноко.
How do I form short adjectives?
The short adjectival forms in Russian, are derived from the stem of the long adjectival forms. For the masculine short form, the stem of the long form alone is enough, whilst the feminine, neuter and plural forms end in -а, -о and -ы/-и*, respectively.
Short adjectives only have to agree with the gender and number of a noun. They do not decline into the genitive , dative , accusative , instrumental , or prepositional cases, as long adjectives do. Long-form adjectives decline and must agree with the gender, number and case of the noun that they describe. Note that a number of short adjectives may lack a masculine form (e.g. pregnant), a feminine form, or even a plural form.
For example:
She is ill. – Она больна. (Short adjective, which agrees only in gender and number)
Соня подарила сестре синюю ручку. (Long adjective, which agrees in gender, number and case )
*Plural forms take the ending -и after the letters г, к, х, ж, ч, ш, щ, which cannot follow -ы.
Grammar pointers – be careful!
Interchangeability
1. Long and short adjectives are not entirely interchangeable. There are some instances where the use of a specific type of adjective is preferred. For example, although both ‘Я вам благодарен’ (short form) and ‘Я вам благодарный’ ( long form) are grammatically sound, you’d be hard pressed to find a native speaker using the long form. However, they are interchangeable when the adjective forms part of the predicate (that is, the part of the sentence which tells us what the subject is doing), or is a postpositive adjective (meaning it comes after the noun which it is describing).
For example:
She needs a light bright enough for her to read at night,
but dim enough to allow her husband to sleep. – Ей нужен
свет, достаточно яркий, чтобы она могла читать по ночам,
но достаточно тусклый, чтобы муж мог спать. (Postpositive adjectives describing the noun ‘light’)
Вы and number agreement
2. The third person plural (the formal ‘you’ and also plural ‘you’) вы,
requires the plural form of the short adjective desired.
However, colloquially, where long adjectives are used as
predicates, the singular is often employed and sounds more natural to the
native ear.
For example:
You are so amazing! – Вы такой удивительный!
Long and short-adjective pairs
3. Not all Russian adjectives have dual forms. Generally, adjectives of
colour, adjectives of time, adjectives representing materials (e.g. iron,
wood), ordinal numbers and adjectives ending in–ский, –овой, –евой, –ной,
–ный, and –ний, only possess a long form.
A fairly reliable (but not fool proof!) rule to abide by in order
to determine if a long adjective has a short-form equivalent, is that if an
adjective possesses a comparative form, it will also possess a short form.
Fleeting vowels
4. If a cluster of two or more consonants are present at the end of amasculine adjective’s stem (that is, the
form of the adjective to which an affix is attached in line with
grammatical gender, number and / or case, which cannot appear on its own),
an -о/-е/-ё is inserted between the two final consonants.
For example:
|
English translation
|
Russian long adjective
|
Russian short adjective
|
|
bitter
|
горький
|
горек
|
|
close by
|
близкий
|
близок
|
|
difficult
|
трудный
|
труден
|
|
full
|
полный
|
полон
|
|
funny
|
смешной
|
смешон
|
|
harmful
|
вредный
|
вреден
|
|
ill
|
больной
|
болен
|
|
light
|
лёгкий
|
легок
|
|
long
|
долгий
|
долог
|
|
low
|
низкий
|
низок
|
|
narrow
|
узкий
|
узок
|
|
necessary
|
нужный
|
нужен
|
|
poor
|
бедный
|
беден
|
|
sweet
|
сладкий
|
сладок
|
|
thin
|
тонкий
|
тонок
|
|
useful
|
полезный
|
полезен
|
However, there is no fleeting vowel between the consonant clusters -с and -т.
|
English translation
|
Russian long adjective
|
Russian short adjective
|
|
clean, pure
|
чистый
|
чист
|
|
easy, simple
|
простой
|
прост
|
|
empty
|
пустой
|
пуст
|
|
fat, thick
|
толстый
|
толст
|
List of common Russian long and short adjective pairs
|
English translation
|
Russian long adjective
|
Russian short adjective
|
|
good
|
хороший
|
хорош
|
|
beautiful
|
краси́вый
|
красив
|
|
nice, cute
|
милый
|
мил
|
|
evil
|
злой
|
зол
|
|
calm
|
споко́йный
|
спокоен
|
|
close
|
близкий
|
близок
|
|
unrestricted, unlimited, free
|
свободный
|
свободен
|
|
happy, lucky
|
счастливый
|
счастлив
|
|
complex, compound,
complicated, intricate
|
сложный
|
сложен
|
|
burning hot, scorching, red-hot
|
раскалённый
|
раскалён
|
|
hot (having a high temperature), hot-tempered, heated, busy (of time)
|
горячий
|
горяч
|
|
cold
|
холодный
|
холоден
|
|
ice / icy (frozen water), icy (of a glance, or a voice, etc.)
|
ледяной
|
леден
|
|
small, little, short, petty
|
маленький*
|
мал
|
|
big, large, great, important, grown-up, big, outstanding
|
большой*
|
велик
|
|
free
|
свободный
|
свободен
|
|
right (direction), right (correct), correct, right-hand, right-wing
|
правый
|
прав
|
|
busy
|
занятый
|
занят
|
|
irritable, angry, embittered
|
сердитый
|
сердит
|
|
ready, prepared
|
готовый
|
готов
|
*The long adjectives большой and маленький do not possess their own short forms, and use the short forms for великий (велик) and малый (мал) instead.
Russian adjectives without a short form
Many adjectives do not possess a short form. For the most part, these are adjectives formed from nouns which end in: -евой, ний, -ной, -ный,-овой and -ский. A number of these are listed below. At times, the reasoning behind this is quite clear. For example, русский lacks a short-form adjective because in general, there is a strong degree of permanency attached to possessing Russian heritage, or nationality, or origin, for the people or objects which the adjective describes. For adjectives ending in the suffixes -ск and -ян, no short form exists.
|
English translation
|
Long-form Russian adjective
|
Short-form Russian adjective
|
|
adult
|
взрослый
|
No short form.
|
|
autumn
|
осенний
|
|
|
barracks
|
казарменный
|
|
|
big
|
большой
|
|
|
bottom
|
нижний
|
|
|
branded
|
фирменный
|
|
|
bright red
|
ярко-красный
|
|
|
busy
|
занятой
|
|
|
current
|
нынешний
|
|
|
dark grey
|
тёмно-серый
|
|
|
evening
|
вечерний
|
|
|
external
|
внешний
|
|
|
extra
|
лишний
|
|
|
extreme
|
крайний
|
|
|
forever
|
всегдашний
|
|
|
heavy
|
тяжеленный
|
|
|
home
|
домашний
|
|
|
indirect
|
косвенный
|
|
|
internal
|
внутренний
|
|
|
late
|
поздний
|
|
|
light grey
|
светло-серый
|
|
|
literally
|
буквенный
|
|
|
little
|
маленький
|
|
|
local
|
здешний
|
|
|
lofty
|
высоченный
|
|
|
long time ago
|
давнишний
|
|
|
mental
|
мысленный
|
|
|
miserable
|
несчастный
|
|
|
near
|
ближний
|
|
|
neighbouring
|
соседний
|
|
|
non-resident
|
иногородний
|
|
|
not from around
|
нездешний
|
|
|
of that place, of those places, local
|
|
|
|
old
|
давний
|
|
|
on it
|
оный
|
|
|
penultimate
|
предпредпоследний
|
|
|
plasma
|
плазменный
|
|
|
pre-war
|
довоенный
|
|
|
previous
|
прежний
|
|
|
promised
|
обетованный
|
|
|
reception office
|
приёмный
|
|
|
remote
|
дальний
|
|
|
sawmill
|
лесопильный
|
|
|
shitty
|
говённый
|
|
|
soil
|
почвенный
|
|
|
song
|
песенный
|
|
|
spring
|
весенний
|
|
|
straw
|
соломенный
|
|
|
summer
|
летний
|
|
|
tall
|
рослый
|
|
|
tavern
|
давешний
|
|
|
thick
|
толстенный
|
|
|
third party
|
сторонний
|
|
|
today’s
|
сегодняшний
|
|
|
top
|
верхний
|
|
|
weird
|
чудной
|
|
|
winter
|
зимний
|
|
|
worthy of
|
достойный
|
When the short and long form of Russian adjectives diverge in meaning
|
Long-form Russian adjective
|
Meaning
|
Short-form Russian adjective
|
Meaning
|
|
живой
|
lively, vibrant
|
жив
|
alive
|
|
хороший
|
good or kind (human nature), tasty
|
хорош
|
good (at a skill), handsome, beautiful
|
|
сильный
|
strong
|
силён
|
good (at a skill), talented, knowledgeable, strong
|
|
добрый
|
kind
|
добр
|
kind
|
|
великий
|
great
|
велик
|
too large
|
|
смешной
|
funny
|
смешон
|
laughable, ludicrous, ridiculous
|
|
ясный
|
clear
|
ясен
|
obvious, self-evident, clear
|
|
Бедный
|
miserable, pathetic, pitiful, poor
|
беден
|
poor (no money)
|
For example:
He is a good friend. – Он хороший друг.
He is handsome. – Он хорош собой.
He is good. – Он хорош. ( In the context of a prior conversation about the subject’s talents in a specific area, the short form adjective would be used)
She is pretty. – Она хороша.
The meal was tasty! – Еда была хороша!
These trousers are too big. – Эти брюки слишком велики.
He is a great writer. – Он великий писатель.
Note the expression below:
Будь добр,…. – Could you please be so kind as to…
If you’re ever in doubt as to which to use, stick to the long form; it is far more common and you’ll be understood.
Activities
Read the following text and think about which of the adjectives require a long adjective, and which of them require a short adjective. Consider the differences between the two types and whether each one possesses a pair in Russian, or not.
One day, Andriy and his friend Kirill went swimming in the sea. The weather was great for swimming; theblazing sun was shining brightly, as thecrystal clear waters crashed against the shore and a gentle breeze caressed their skin. There atmosphere was buzzing and the maniacal laughter of children running on the hot sand could be heard everywhere. The two friends dived into the sea and were delighted with the warm temperature of its salty waters. Hours later, when they had finally returned home, they were in a wonderful mood.
To practise constructing short form adjectives from the long form adjectives they are derived from, try this test over at Practice Russian.
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