Breakdown of Это стекло гораздо прочнее, но гарантия короче.
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
но
but
короткий
short
гораздо
much (with comparatives)
стекло
glass (material)
прочный
durable
гарантия
warranty
Questions & Answers about Это стекло гораздо прочнее, но гарантия короче.
Could I say очень прочнее to mean 'very much more durable'?
No, that is a common mistake! In Russian, you cannot use очень (very) directly with a comparative adjective like прочнее. To intensify a comparative to mean 'much more', you must use words like гораздо or намного.
Is there any difference between using гораздо and намного in this sentence?
In this sentence, гораздо прочнее and намного прочнее mean exactly the same thing. You can use either one interchangeably. гораздо is strictly used with comparatives, while намного can also be used to intensify verbs, but right here they do the exact same job.
How do we get the form короче for 'shorter'?
The dictionary adjective is короткий (short). To form the comparative, the suffix -к- drops out and the т changes to ч, giving us the ending -че instead of the standard -ее. This type of consonant mutation is very common in Russian comparatives.
Стекло is neuter and гарантия is feminine. Why don't прочнее and короче change their endings to match the nouns?
These are short-form comparative adjectives acting as the predicate (the core of the statement). In Russian, this specific type of comparative (usually ending in -ее, -ей, or -е) is completely invariable. It never changes to match gender, number, or case.
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