Breakdown of Какие критерии являются самыми строгими?
какой
which/what kind of (m, sister forms: какая, какое)
строгий
strict
самый
most
являться
to be (formal)
критерий
criterion
Questions & Answers about Какие критерии являются самыми строгими?
Why is самыми строгими in the instrumental case rather than the nominative?
The formal verb являться (to be / to serve as) strictly governs the instrumental case. While the basic verb быть sometimes allows the nominative for a predicate adjective, являться always requires the following noun or adjective to be in the instrumental.
Why is the plural of this noun критерии and not критерия?
Критерий (criterion) is a masculine noun ending in -ий. To form the plural of masculine nouns ending in -й, you replace that letter with -и, resulting in критерии. Learners often confuse this with neuter nouns ending in -ие (like здание), which do change to -ия in the plural.
How does case matching work with the superlative самыми строгими here?
To form the compound superlative (meaning "the strictest"), you use самый plus the adjective. Because the verb являются forces the instrumental case, both parts of the superlative must match this case requirement. Therefore, the nominative plural самые строгие transforms together into the instrumental plural самыми строгими.
Could we just drop the verb and say Какие критерии самые строгие?
Yes, you absolutely can! Omitting the verb and keeping everything in the nominative case (Какие критерии самые строгие?) is much more natural for everyday conversation. Using являются with the instrumental case makes the sentence sound more formal, academic, or professional.
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