Breakdown of Эффективность нового завода в четыре раза ниже.
новый
new
завод
factory
четыре
four
раз
time, occasion
Questions & Answers about Эффективность нового завода в четыре раза ниже.
Why is the word for 'times' spelled as раза instead of раз here?
In the multiplicative comparison structure, the preposition в takes the Accusative case for the number. The number here is четыре (four), which dictates that the following noun must be in the Genitive singular. The Genitive singular of раз is раза.
If в requires the Accusative case here, why does четыре look like it is in the Nominative case?
For inanimate nouns like раз, the Accusative forms of the numbers 2, 3, and 4 are identical to their Nominative forms. Because of this rule, четыре does not change its ending in this sentence.
Why do we use ниже (lower) instead of меньше (less) to talk about efficiency?
This is due to natural Russian word partnerships (collocations). эффективность (efficiency) is described as being either high (высокий) or low (низкий), rather than big or small. To express 'less efficient', you state that the efficiency is lower (ниже).
The noun эффективность is feminine. Why doesn't the comparative ниже change to match its gender?
In this sentence, ниже is a short-form comparative adjective acting as the predicate (the core state being described). In Russian, these short-form comparatives are invariable, meaning they never change to match the gender, number, or case of the subject.