Это утро спокойнее, чем вчерашнее.

This morning is calmer than yesterday’s.

Breakdown of Это утро спокойнее, чем вчерашнее.

• это: this
• чем: than
• вчерашний: yesterday's
• спокойнее: calmer
• утро: morning

Questions & Answers about Это утро спокойнее, чем вчерашнее.

Why does the sentence start with Это? Is it the same as this?

Это here works like this/it is and helps point to or identify the topic: Это утро… = This morning… / This is a morning that is…
In everyday Russian, это is very common in sentences like this. You can drop it, but it changes the feel:

• Это утро спокойнее, чем вчерашнее. (neutral, “this particular morning is…”)
• Утро спокойнее, чем вчерашнее. (more general/observational, like “The morning is…”)

Where is the verb to be (is/was) in Russian?

In the present tense Russian normally omits to be. So:

• Это утро (есть) спокойнее…
  The implied есть is almost never said in modern neutral speech.

Why is утро neuter, and does that affect anything here?

Утро is a neuter noun (it ends in -о and is grammatically neuter). This affects agreement in forms like:

• вчерашнее (утро) — neuter singular nominative to match утро
  But спокойнее is a comparative form and does not change for gender/number, so you don’t make it neuter.

Is спокойнее an adjective or an adverb here?

It’s the comparative form of the adjective спокойный (“calm”). In Russian, comparatives like спокойнее look the same whether they function more “adjectivally” or “adverbially,” but here it describes the noun утро:

• утро спокойнее = “the morning is calmer”

You could also say:

• Это утро более спокойное, чем вчерашнее.
  That uses the full adjective спокойное with более, and it does agree in gender/number/case.

Why is there a comma before чем?

In comparisons with чем (“than”), Russian normally uses a comma:

• спокойнее, чем вчерашнее
  This is treated like a comparison clause/structure, so the comma is standard.

What exactly is вчерашнее? Why is it not вчера?

вчерашнее is an adjective meaning yesterday’s. Here it stands in for a noun (it’s “substantivized”):

• вчерашнее (утро) = “yesterday’s (morning)”

If you use вчера, you get a different structure:

• Это утро спокойнее, чем вчера. = “This morning is calmer than yesterday.”
  This compares “today (this morning)” with “yesterday” as a time reference, not explicitly “yesterday morning.”

Could you say чем вчерашним or some other case after чем?

With чем, the compared item is most often in the nominative when it’s an implied “same noun” comparison:

• чем вчерашнее (утро) — nominative neuter singular

You generally wouldn’t use чем вчерашним here. Instrumental after чем would sound wrong in this pattern.

Is there another common way to say the same comparison without чем?

Yes. Russian often uses the genitive of comparison (no чем):

• Это утро спокойнее вчерашнего.
  Here вчерашнего is genitive (literally: “calmer of yesterday’s”).

Both versions are common; the чем version can feel a bit more explicit.

Why isn’t it Это спокойнее утро?

Because спокойнее is a comparative, and Russian typically uses comparatives in the predicate position:

• утро спокойнее (most natural)

Placing it before the noun is possible but usually has a marked/poetic or special emphasis feel, and it’s not the default for comparatives.

What is the natural stress/pronunciation for this sentence?

A natural stress pattern is:

• Э́то у́тро споко́йнее, чем вчера́шнее.

Also note the pronunciation:

• чем is pronounced like chem (with ch as in cheese).