Questions & Answers about Этот фильм самый интересный из всех.
Why doesn’t the Russian sentence have a word for “is” like in English?
In Russian, the verb “to be” (быть) is normally dropped in the present tense in simple sentences like this.
- English: This film is the most interesting of all.
- Russian: Этот фильм самый интересный из всех.
(literally: This film the most interesting of all.)
The copula есть (the present tense form of быть) is usually omitted in such “X is Y” statements in the present. You would only use есть for emphasis or special contrasts, not in a basic statement like this.
What exactly does самый mean here, and how is it used?
Самый is the usual way to form the superlative of an adjective. It means “the most”.
Pattern:
- интересный – interesting
- более интересный – more interesting
- самый интересный – the most interesting
So:
- самый + adjective = the most + adjective
In this sentence:
- самый интересный = the most interesting
Why is it самый интересный, not something like интереснейший?
Russian has two main ways to form superlatives: