Breakdown of Мой брат гордый, когда сам решает задачу по математике.
мой
my
брат
the brother
когда
when
задача
the problem
Questions & Answers about Мой брат гордый, когда сам решает задачу по математике.
Why is it гордый and not горд or гордится in this sentence?
All three are related to pride, but they belong to different grammatical types:
- гордый – a long-form adjective: Мой брат гордый = My brother is proud (as a quality / tendency).
- горд – a short-form adjective: Мой брат горд = My brother is proud (right now / in this situation).
- Short forms are often a bit more formal or literary.
- гордиться – a verb meaning to be proud (of something) and it needs an object in the instrumental case:
- Он гордится сестрой. – He is proud of his sister.
- Он гордится тем, что сам решает задачу по математике. – He is proud of the fact that he solves the math problem himself.
Your sentence uses гордый to give a description of the brother’s emotional reaction in such situations in a fairly neutral, spoken style.
You could also say:
- Мой брат горд, когда сам решает задачу по математике.
This would sound a bit more formal or “bookish.”
But Мой брат гордится, когда сам решает задачу по математике sounds incomplete, because гордиться wants a specific object (proud of what?).
Where is the word “is” in Мой брат гордый? Why is there no verb?