Breakdown of Мы купили смартфон, у которого батарея намного лучше.
мы
we
хороший
good
у
at, by
купить
to buy (perfective)
намного
much, by far
который
which / who / that (relative pronoun)
смартфон
the smartphone
батарея
battery
Questions & Answers about Мы купили смартфон, у которого батарея намного лучше.
Why do we use намного here instead of очень?
намного means "by a lot" or "much". It is used to intensify comparative words like лучше (better). Just like in English, you cannot say "very better" (очень лучше); you have to say "much better" using намного or its synonym гораздо.
How does у которого translate to "that has"?
Russian expresses possession using the preposition у plus the genitive case. To say "a smartphone that has a battery", you use this same structure with the relative pronoun который (which). Literally, the second half of the sentence translates to "...at which the battery is much better".
Why does которого end in -ого?
The pronoun который acts like an adjective and must match the noun it refers back to. Since it refers to смартфон (masculine singular), it takes masculine endings. The preposition у always requires the genitive case, so we use the masculine genitive ending -ого.
Where is the verb in the second half of the sentence?
It is omitted. In Russian, the present tense of the verb "to be" is almost always left out. If you translated it word-for-word, it would be "...at which the battery [is] much better".
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