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Questions & Answers about Эта еда вредная!
How would I use the comparative degree here to say "This food is more unhealthy"?
You drop the ending of the adjective вредная and add the comparative suffix -ее. So, "This food is more unhealthy" would be Эта еда вреднее!
The word for "unhealthy" is вредная. Does it literally translate to "harmful"?
Yes! It comes from the noun вред, which means "harm" or "damage." In Russian, instead of saying food is "unhealthy," it is much more natural to say it is "harmful" (вредная еда). For healthy food, you would say it is "useful" (полезная еда).
Why is the word Эта used here instead of Это?
Because "this" is directly modifying a specific noun in the sentence ("This food"), it must match the gender of that noun. Since еда is feminine, we use the feminine Эта. You would only use the neuter Это if you were making a general "This is..." statement, like Это вредная еда (This is unhealthy food).
Why isn't there a word for "is" in this sentence?
In the present tense, Russian almost always leaves out the verb "to be." You simply place the subject (Эта еда) directly next to the adjective describing it (вредная). If you were talking about the past, you would need to add the verb back in: Эта еда была вредная (This food was unhealthy).