Breakdown of Эта шутка гораздо глупее, но я смеюсь.
я
I
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
шутка
joke
но
but
смеяться
to laugh
гораздо
much (with comparatives)
глупый
stupid, silly
Questions & Answers about Эта шутка гораздо глупее, но я смеюсь.
Why doesn't глупее have a feminine ending to match шутка?
глупее is the comparative form of the adjective глупый (stupid). In Russian, when you use the special comparative forms ending in -ее, they do not change to match the gender, number, or case of the noun. It stays exactly the same whether you are talking about a joke (feminine), a plan (masculine), or rules (plural).
Can I use очень or много instead of гораздо to say "much stupider"?
No, you must use гораздо (or sometimes намного) when strengthening a comparative adjective. очень (very) is only used with regular adjectives, like очень глупая (very stupid). много (a lot or many) is generally used with nouns or verbs, not to intensify comparatives.
Could I use the word более (more) to make this comparison instead?
Yes! You can make a compound comparative by using более (more) plus the normal adjective. If you do that, the adjective must match the noun. Since шутка is feminine, you would say более глупая. Both глупее and более глупая mean "stupider," but the short form глупее is often preferred in everyday conversation.
I remember reflexive verbs ending in -ся. Why does смеюсь end in -сь?
The dictionary form is смеяться (to laugh), which does end in -ся. When you conjugate a reflexive verb, the ending changes based on the letter right before it. If the conjugated verb ends in a consonant (like the letter т in он смеётся), you use -ся. If it ends in a vowel (like the ю in я смею-), the reflexive ending shortens to -сь.
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