Learn Hardcore Russian: Мой дом меньше, чем тот дом.

Мой дом был меньше, чем тот дом. – My house was smaller than that house.
Мой дом будет меньше, чем тот дом. – My house will be smaller than that house.

What exactly does меньше mean, and what is its base form?

Меньше means smaller / less and is the comparative form of малый / маленький (small).

маленький дом – a small house
меньший дом – the smaller house (rare, more formal)
мой дом меньше – my house is smaller

Important points:

меньше is an invariable comparative form: it does not change for gender, number, or case.
- Мой дом меньше. – My house is smaller.
- Моя квартира меньше. – My apartment is smaller.
- Мои комнаты меньше. – My rooms are smaller.
In everyday speech, меньше is far more common than the adjective меньший.

Why do we need чем? Is it always used for than?

In comparisons with a comparative form (меньше, больше, лучше, etc.), чем introduces what you compare with, and it usually means than:

Мой дом меньше, чем тот дом. – My house is smaller than that house.
Этот город больше, чем наш. – This city is bigger than ours.
Он старше, чем я. – He is older than me.

There is also another common pattern without чем, using the genitive:

Мой дом меньше того дома. – My house is smaller than that house.

So you have two main options:

Comparative + чем + nominative
Мой дом меньше, чем тот дом.
Comparative + genitive (no чем)
Мой дом меньше того дома.

Both are correct and common. For learners, меньше, чем … is usually easier to remember because it mirrors English less than ….

What case are мой дом and тот дом in?

Both are in the nominative case:

мой дом – nominative singular masculine (my house)
тот дом – nominative singular masculine (that house)

In the чем‑construction, the compared item after чем is typically in the same case as the first one, and both are nominative here.

If you use the genitive alternative without чем, it changes:

Мой дом меньше того дома.
- мой дом – nominative (subject)
- того дома – genitive (object of comparison)

Why is it мой дом and тот дом? How do мой and тот work here?

Мой and тот are determiners that must agree with дом in gender, number, and case.

дом – masculine, singular, nominative

So:

мой дом – my house (мой = masculine, singular, nominative)
тот дом – that house (тот = masculine, singular, nominative)

If you change the noun, the determiner changes too:

квартира (feminine):
- моя квартира меньше, чем тот дом. – My apartment is smaller than that house.
окно (neuter):
- моё окно меньше, чем то окно. – My window is smaller than that window.
книги (plural):
- мои книги меньше, чем те книги. – My books are smaller than those books.

Could we say just Мой дом меньше, чем тот without repeating дом?

Yes. If the noun is clear from context, Russians often omit it:

Мой дом меньше, чем тот. – My house is smaller than that (one).

All of these are grammatical:

Мой дом меньше, чем тот дом. – fully explicit, a bit heavier.
Мой дом меньше, чем тот. – natural and common.

Likewise with the genitive pattern:

Мой дом меньше того дома.
Мой дом меньше того.

In conversation, the shorter versions are very natural if it’s obvious you’re talking about houses.

Is тот дом exactly that house, or can it also mean that home?

Дом most literally means house, the physical building.

However, in context it can also mean home (the place where someone lives), especially with possessives like мой дом:

мой дом – my house / my home (often both at once)
тот дом – that house (and, depending on context, possibly that home)

If you specifically want home as a concept (not a building), Russians often use:

дом in context: Я иду домой. – I’m going home.
or expressions like родной дом (home, home town/place).

But in this sentence it is primarily understood as house.

Can we reverse the order, like Тот дом больше, чем мой дом?

Yes. Russian word order is quite flexible. You can say:

Мой дом меньше, чем тот дом. – My house is smaller than that house.
Тот дом больше, чем мой дом. – That house is bigger than my house.

These two sentences describe the same relationship, just from different perspectives. Both are natural.

Why is there a comma before чем?

In comparisons using a comparative form + чем (like меньше, чем …, больше, чем …, лучше, чем …), Russian normally writes a comma before чем:

Мой дом меньше, чем тот дом.
Этот город больше, чем наш.
Она умнее, чем он.

So the comma in Мой дом меньше, чем тот дом is standard and expected in most modern punctuation practice.

What is the stress and pronunciation of меньше, чем тот дом?

Approximate pronunciation (stressed vowels in caps, English-like):

Мой дом меньше, чем тот дом
[moj dom MЕNʹ‑she chem TOT dom]

Details:

мой – like moy in boy, one syllable.
дом – like dom (close to English dome but shorter).
меньше – мЕнь‑ше, stress on мЕ; нь is a soft n (tongue closer to ny).
чем – like chem with soft ch as in chew
- em.
тот – like toht with a short o.

Every word here is stressed on its only vowel except меньше, where stress is on е (the first vowel).

Is меньше an adjective or an adverb here? Does it change its ending?

Меньше is a synthetic comparative form. It behaves a bit like both an adjective and an adverb but is invariable:

It does not take different endings for gender, number, or case.
It can describe nouns (мой дом меньше) or modify verbs (я сплю меньше – I sleep less).

Compare:

маленький дом – a small house (adjective, changes endings)
дом меньше – the house is smaller (comparative form, no ending change)

Is there a difference between меньше and менее маленький?

Yes.

меньше is the normal, simple comparative: smaller / less.
- Мой дом меньше, чем тот дом.
менее маленький literally means less small, and is rarely used in everyday speech. It sounds more technical, careful, or stylistic:
- Этот дом менее маленький, чем тот. – This house is less small than that one. (very unnatural in normal conversation)

In practice, for size you almost always use:

больше – bigger / more
меньше – smaller / less

So Мой дом меньше, чем тот дом is the natural way to say it.