Breakdown of Где самая высокая башня в мире?
где
where / wherever
в
in / to (direction)
высокий
tall / high (of a level or amount)
самый
most
Questions & Answers about Где самая высокая башня в мире?
Why does this sentence use самая instead of самый?
The word самый (the most) acts just like an adjective, so it has to match the gender, number, and case of the noun it describes. Since башня (tower) is a feminine noun in the nominative (subject) case, both the superlative marker (самая) and the adjective (высокая) must take their feminine nominative endings.
Is there a single word for "tallest" in Russian, or do we always have to use a form of самый?
For most everyday adjectives, Russian uses this two-word structure: самый + the regular adjective. So, "the tallest" is literally "the most tall" (самая высокая). While Russian does have single-word superlatives (which usually add a special ending like -ейший), they are mostly used in very formal language or literature. In normal conversation, using самый is exactly what you should do!
Why is it в мире instead of в мир?
Because the sentence describes a static location ("where in the world"), we must use the Prepositional case. The dictionary form of the word for "world" is мир, and we add -е to make it Prepositional (в мире). If we used в мир (the Accusative case), it would mean movement or direction into the world.
Does высокая mean "tall" or "high"?