Learn Hardcore Russian: Аренда квартиры в центре города оказалась дороже, чем мы думали. - The rent of an apartment in the city center turned out to be more expensive than we thought.

Russian often uses a noun + genitive (аренда + квартиры) where English might use a verb:
“Renting an apartment in the city center…” → Аренда квартиры в центре города…

Why is квартиры in the genitive case after аренда?

Many nouns in Russian, especially those that express an action or relationship, take another noun in the genitive to show “of what?” or “of whom?”.

Аренда (rent / renting) + чего? (of what?) → квартиры (of an apartment).

So:

аренда квартиры = “rent of an apartment / renting an apartment”
pattern is similar to:
- чашка чая – “a cup of tea”
- книга студента – “a student’s book / book of the student”

That’s why it’s квартиры (genitive singular), not квартира (nominative).

How does в центре города work grammatically? Why центре and города?

В центре города is a two‑noun phrase:

в центре – “in the center”
- в
  - prepositional центре (where? → prepositional)
города – “of the city”
- центр чего? – “center of what?” → genitive города

So structurally it’s: в (центре города) = “in the (center of the city)”.

The first noun (центр) is in the prepositional after в (“in”), and the second (город) is in the genitive because it depends on центр: “center of the city”.

What does оказалась literally mean, and why is it feminine?

Оказалась is the past tense, feminine, of the verb оказаться, which here means “to turn out (to be)”.

infinitive: оказаться
past masc.: оказался
past fem.: оказалась
past neut.: оказалось
past pl.: оказались

It must agree in gender and number with the subject аренда, which is feminine singular.

So:
Аренда … оказалась дороже… = “The rent / renting turned out to be more expensive…”

Could we just say была дороже instead of оказалась дороже? What’s the difference?

You can say была дороже, but the nuance changes:

оказалась дороже = “turned out to be more expensive”
- emphasizes a result that was unexpected or revealed later.
была дороже = “was more expensive”
- just states a fact in the past, with no idea of surprise.

In your sentence, оказалась suggests:
“We had an expectation, and then reality turned out differently (more expensive).”

Why is the form дороже used instead of более дорогая?

Russian usually forms comparatives of adjectives in two ways:

Synthetic (short comparative form):
- дорогой → дороже (more expensive)
- красивый → красивее (prettier)
Analytic (using более
- adjective):
- более дорогой (more expensive)
- более красивый (more beautiful)

In everyday speech, the short comparative дороже is more natural here:

оказалась дороже, чем мы думали – standard, neutral.

Более дорогая, чем мы думали is grammatically correct, but it sounds heavier and is less idiomatic in this sentence.

In чем мы думали, what exactly does чем mean, and why is this the structure used in comparisons?

In comparisons, чем works like English “than”:

дороже, чем мы думали = “more expensive than we thought”

The structure is:

comparative + чем + clause / phrase

Examples:

Он моложе, чем она. – He is younger than she is.
Это оказалось сложнее, чем я ожидал. – It turned out more difficult than I expected.

So чем мы думали literally is “than we thought” (a full clause with subject мы and verb думали).

Can we say чем мы подумали instead of чем мы думали?

You could say чем мы подумали, but it sounds off or overly specific in this context.

думали (imperfective) – more general: “we thought” / “we were thinking”, referring to our earlier idea or expectation overall.
подумали (perfective) – focuses on a single completed act: “we had a thought once”.

For expectations like “than we thought” in English, Russian almost always uses думали (imperfective) here:

дороже, чем мы думали – the natural, default form.

Why is there a comma before чем in дороже, чем мы думали?

In Russian, a comma is usually placed before чем when:

it introduces a comparative clause with a verb, like … чем мы думали.

This is treated similarly to a subordinate clause:

Он выше, чем я думал.
Это сложнее, чем казалось.

No comma is often used when чем is directly after the comparative and followed just by a noun or short phrase:

он старше меня (no чем)
он старше, чем брат – here many speakers drop the comma, but with full clauses like чем мы думали, the comma is standard.

Is the word order fixed? Can I move в центре города or чем мы думали to other positions?

Word order in Russian is relatively flexible, but some versions sound more natural than others.

Your sentence:

Аренда квартиры в центре города оказалась дороже, чем мы думали. – very natural.

Other possible orders:

Аренда квартиры оказалась дороже в центре города, чем мы думали. – sounds awkward and can be misread as “more expensive in the city center than we thought it would be there”, splitting the comparison oddly.

Better variations would keep the comparison block together:

Аренда квартиры в центре города оказалась дороже, чем мы думали ранее.
Аренда квартиры в центре города оказалась, как ни странно, дороже, чем мы думали.

So you can move в центре города a bit, but дороже, чем мы думали should stay together, and the original order is the most natural.

Could we say Снять квартиру в центре города оказалось дороже, чем мы думали instead? Is the meaning the same?

Yes, that’s a good alternative, and it’s quite natural:

Снять квартиру в центре города оказалось дороже, чем мы думали.

Differences:

Аренда квартиры в центре города оказалась дороже…
- more noun‑like, slightly more formal / written; focuses on “the rent / the rental”.
Снять квартиру в центре города оказалось дороже…
- more verb‑like, sounds a bit more conversational; focuses on the action “to rent an apartment”.

Meaning in context is practically the same: renting an apartment in the city center turned out more expensive than expected.

How would this sentence look in the present tense?

If you want a present‑time “is turning out to be more expensive (than we thought)”, you can say:

Аренда квартиры в центре города оказывается дороже, чем мы думали.
– “The rent / renting in the city center is turning out to be more expensive than we thought.”

If you just want a simple present fact (“is more expensive than we thought”), you could also say:

Аренда квартиры в центре города дороже, чем мы думали.

Here оказываться is optional; including it keeps the nuance of “turns out / proves to be”.