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Questions & Answers about Рыба ещё живая.
Why use the long adjective живая instead of the short form жива?
In modern conversational Russian, long-form adjectives like живая are commonly used to describe physical states, even when they act as the predicate. The short form жива is also correct but can sound a bit more dramatic, poetic, or formal (like announcing "She is alive!").
Ещё can also mean "more." How do we know it means "still" here?
When ещё is placed before a standard (positive degree) adjective like живая, it translates to "still." If you wanted to say "more," you would have to use the comparative form of the adjective. For example, ещё живее would mean "even more alive."
English uses "fish" for both singular and plural. How do we know if this is one fish or multiple?
Russian distinguishes between singular and plural for fish. Рыба is the feminine singular form, which is why the adjective живая matches it in the feminine singular. If this were about multiple fish, it would be plural: Рыбы ещё живые.