Breakdown of Серебро более тяжёлое, чем железо, но менее ценное, чем золото.
но
but
чем
than / the (in comparisons)
золото
gold
более
more
ценный
valuable
серебро
silver
железо
iron
тяжёлый
heavy
менее
less
Questions & Answers about Серебро более тяжёлое, чем железо, но менее ценное, чем золото.
Why are железо and золото in the nominative case instead of the genitive case here?
In Russian, you can compare things in two ways: by putting the second item in the genitive case, or by using чем (than) followed by the nominative case. Since this sentence uses чем, the words железо (iron) and золото (gold) stay in their dictionary form (nominative).
Why do the adjectives тяжёлое and ценное end in -ое?
They end in -ое because they are describing серебро (silver), which is a neuter noun. When using более (more) or менее (less), the main adjective acts like a normal adjective and must match the subject's gender, number, and case.
Could I use the short word тяжелее instead of более тяжёлое?
Yes! Тяжелее is the one-word comparative form of "heavier". Both серебро тяжелее, чем железо and серебро более тяжёлое, чем железо are correct and mean the same thing. The two-word form with более is just a bit more formal.
Do I always need a comma before чем in this type of sentence?
Yes, Russian punctuation rules strictly require a comma before чем whenever it is used to mean "than" in a comparison.
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