Comparing without "чем"
In the last lesson, we used чем (than) to compare things. There is another, very common way to make comparisons in Russian: you can drop the word чем completely and simply put the second item in the genitive case.
This structure is frequently used with short comparative adjectives like младше (younger), старше (older), выше (taller/higher), and ниже (shorter/lower).
| This is my sister, she is younger than me. | Это моя сестра, она младше меня. |
| Our grandfather is older than grandma. | Наш дедушка старше бабушки. |
Notice how я becomes меня and бабушка becomes бабушки. The meaning is exactly the same as if you used чем, but this elegant form is shorter and highly preferred in everyday speech.
| Ivan is taller than mom, but shorter than dad. | Иван выше мамы, но ниже папы. |
Physical Traits and Generations
You can apply this same genitive structure to compare physical characteristics, sizes of objects, or abstract concepts.
| This building is higher than our house. | Это здание выше нашего дома. |
Let's look at how this works with concepts like внешность (appearance) and поколение (generation). When comparing these traits, the entire second noun phrase goes into the genitive case.
| Anna's appearance is more interesting than Ivan's appearance. | Внешность Анны интереснее внешности Ивана. |
| The new generation works faster than the old generation. | Новое поколение работает быстрее старого поколения. |