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Этот чай такой же крепкий, как вчерашний.

Этот чай такой же крепкий, как вчерашний.
This tea is as strong as yesterday’s.

Breakdown of Этот чай такой же крепкий, как вчерашний.

чай
the tea
этот
this
как
as
вчерашний
yesterday’s
крепкий
strong
такой же
the same
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Questions & Answers about Этот чай такой же крепкий, как вчерашний.

Why is it Этот чай and not Эта чай or Это чай?

Because чай is a masculine noun in Russian. The demonstrative pronoun этот agrees with the noun in gender, number, and case:

  • masculine nominative singular: этот чай
  • feminine nominative singular would be эта (e.g., эта чашка)
  • neuter nominative singular would be это (e.g., это молоко)
What does такой же ... как ... mean grammatically, and how does it work?

такой же + adjective + как + comparison is a standard pattern meaning as ... as ....

  • такой = “such / that kind of”
  • же = “the same” (adds “same-ness”) Together такой же ≈ “the same (kind/degree)”.

In Этот чай такой же крепкий, как вчерашний, the structure is:

  • такой же крепкий = “as strong”
  • как вчерашний = “as yesterday’s (one)”
Why does такой appear as такой (masculine), not another form?

Because такой also agrees with чай (masculine, nominative singular). You’d change it if the noun changed:

  • Этот чай такой же крепкий... (masc.)
  • Эта вода такая же холодная... (fem.)
  • Это молоко такое же тёплое... (neut.)
  • Эти напитки такие же сладкие... (plural)
Why is there a comma before как?

In comparisons like this, Russian typically uses a comma before как when it introduces a comparative phrase:

  • такой же ..., как ... So крепкий, как вчерашний is punctuated with a comma.

(There are cases where как doesn’t take a comma—e.g., set expressions or when it means “as” in the sense of “in the role of”—but this sentence is a normal comparison.)

Why is it вчерашний and not вчерашнего or вчерашним?

Here вчерашний is an adjective used as a noun (elliptically). It stands for вчерашний чай (“yesterday’s tea”), and it matches чай in gender and case.

The implied full version is essentially:

  • Этот чай такой же крепкий, как (чай) вчерашний.

Since it’s comparing two “teas” as like items, вчерашний stays masculine nominative singular to match the omitted чай.

Is вчерашний literally “yesterday’s”? Does it refer to tea made yesterday or tea drunk yesterday?

вчерашний means “yesterday’s” in the broad sense: something connected with yesterday. In this sentence it usually means the tea from yesterday (the one you had yesterday). Depending on context, it could mean:

  • the tea that was made yesterday, or
  • the tea that was served/drunk yesterday
    Russian often leaves that kind of detail to context.
Can I drop же and say Этот чай такой крепкий, как вчерашний?

Yes, it’s grammatically possible, but the nuance changes.

  • такой же ... как ... = explicitly “the same as”
  • такой ... как ... = “(so) ... like ...” and may sound a bit less precise about “same degree”

If you want the clear “equally strong,” же is the natural choice.

Why is the adjective full form крепкий used, not the short form крепок?

Russian often uses the full adjective after такой:

  • такой же крепкий (very natural)

A short-form variant is possible but would be structured differently, e.g.:

  • Этот чай так же крепок, как вчерашний.
    That uses так же (“equally”) + short adjective крепок. It’s correct but slightly more “bookish”/formal in tone compared to the common everyday такой же крепкий pattern.
Does крепкий here definitely mean “strong” (as in strong tea), not “sturdy”?

Yes—крепкий is polysemous, but with drinks it normally means strong (high concentration):

  • крепкий чай = strong tea
  • крепкий кофе = strong coffee
  • крепкий алкоголь = hard liquor
    “Sturdy/solid” is also possible in other contexts (e.g., крепкий стол = sturdy table), but чай makes the meaning unambiguous.
Could I also say не менее крепкий, чем вчерашний? Is that the same?

You can say:

  • Этот чай не менее крепкий, чем вчерашний.

It means “no less strong than yesterday’s”—so it allows the possibility that today’s tea is stronger, while такой же крепкий, как ... states equal strength more directly.