Конструкция сложнее, чем правило.

The construction is more complicated than the rule.

Breakdown of Конструкция сложнее, чем правило.

• правило: the rule
• чем: than
• конструкция: the construction
• сложный: complicated

Questions & Answers about Конструкция сложнее, чем правило.

What part of speech is чем in this sentence, and what role does it play?

Here, чем is a conjunction meaning “than.” It links the comparative adjective сложнее with the thing being compared (правило). Unlike a preposition, it does not govern a case; it simply introduces the second element of comparison.

Why is правило in the nominative case after чем rather than instrumental or genitive?

Since чем here is a conjunction, the noun that follows stays in its base (nominative) form. Russian actually has two ways to form comparisons: 1) Adjective‑comparative + чем + nominative (formal/clear):
Конструкция сложнее, чем правило.
2) Adjective‑comparative + genitive (colloquial):
Конструкция сложнее правила.
With чем you keep the nominative; if you drop чем, you switch the second noun to genitive.

Can I omit чем and say Конструкция сложнее правила instead?

Yes. Omitting чем gives you the more colloquial structure сложнее + genitive (правила). It’s grammatically correct, but in formal or written Russian the pattern with чем + nominative is often preferred for clarity.

Why is there a comma before чем, whereas English usually doesn’t separate “than” with a comma?

In Russian, you place a comma before чем when the second part of the comparison functions as its own (elliptical) clause—here, (чем [она сложна]) is implied. If you use the genitive pattern without чем, you do not use a comma:
Конструкция сложнее правила.

How is the comparative form сложнее built, and can I instead use более сложная?

Сложнее is the synthetic comparative of сложный, formed by adding -е to the stem. You can also use the analytic form with более (more):
Конструкция более сложная, чем правило.
However, the one‑word comparative сложнее is shorter and more idiomatic in most contexts.

How would you express “The rule is simpler than the construction” in Russian?

You have two main options:
1) With чем + nominative:
Правило проще, чем конструкция.
2) Without чем, using genitive:
Правило проще конструкции.

Why is чем spelled with е here and not ё?

The conjunction/instrumental form чем (than) is always spelled with е in modern Russian. The form чём (with ё) exists only as the prepositional of что (“about what”), e.g., о чём ты думаешь?, but not in comparisons.

Where does the stress fall in конструкция and правило?

In конструкция the stress is on the third syllable: кон‑струк‑ци́‑я.
In правило the stress is on the second syllable: пра‑ви́‑ло.