Learn Russian: Какой океан самый большой?

Какой океан самый большой?

Which ocean is the biggest?

Breakdown of Какой океан самый большой?

большой

big

какой

which/what kind of (m, sister forms: какая, какое)

Questions & Answers about Какой океан самый большой?

Why do we use two words (самый большой) to say 'biggest'?

In Russian, the most common way to form the superlative (the '-est' or 'most' form) is by adding the word самый before the adjective. So самый большой literally translates to 'the most big'.

Do самый and большой need to match the noun they describe?

Yes! Both самый and the adjective it pairs with must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case. Since океан is a masculine noun in the nominative case (it is the subject of the sentence), both самый and большой take the masculine nominative form.

Could I just use больше instead of самый большой here?

No, because больше is the comparative form ('bigger'), not the superlative ('biggest'). If you ask Какой океан больше?, you are asking 'Which ocean is bigger?' (usually when comparing just two). To ask which is the biggest out of all of them, you need the superlative самый большой.

Why is there no word for 'is' in this sentence?

In the present tense, Russian almost never uses a linking verb like 'is' or 'are'. You just put the subject (Какой океан) right next to the phrase describing it (самый большой).