Breakdown of Ум и доброта важнее денег.
и
and
деньги
money
важный
important
доброта
kindness
ум
mind, intellect
Questions & Answers about Ум и доброта важнее денег.
Why is there no word for "than" in this sentence?
In Russian, you can say "than" by using the word чем, but a very common shortcut is to just put the second item in the genitive case. Here, the comparative adjective важнее (more important) is followed directly by денег, which is the genitive form of money, to mean "than money".
Why is the word for money (денег) in the plural form?
The Russian word for money, деньги, is a "plural-only" word, much like "scissors" or "clothes" in English. Because of this, it must take the genitive plural form (денег) to complete the comparison.
Why doesn't the adjective важнее change its ending to match the plural subjects (Ум и доброта)?
The word важнее is a short comparative adjective. Unlike regular adjectives, these short comparatives never change their ending to match gender, case, or number. The form stays exactly the same whether you are talking about one masculine thing or multiple subjects like we have here.
Could I use более важные instead of важнее to mean "more important"?
You could use более важны (the short plural form), but the single-word comparative важнее is much more natural and common in everyday speech. The long form более важные is typically only used when it comes directly before a noun, such as "more important rules".
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