Breakdown of Быть в депрессии намного хуже.
в
in / to (direction)
быть
to be
намного
much, by far
хуже
worse
депрессия
depression
Questions & Answers about Быть в депрессии намного хуже.
Why is депрессия in the prepositional case here?
This sentence demonstrates using the prepositional case for emotional states. Just like being inside a physical room, Russian treats abstract states and emotions as spaces you are inside. You use в plus the prepositional case, so депрессия becomes в депрессии.
Why does the Russian sentence start with the infinitive Быть instead of a noun form for "Being"?
Russian does not have an "-ing" gerund that can act as the subject of a sentence. When English uses "being," "doing," or "making" as a subject, Russian simply uses the infinitive verb.
Could I use очень or много instead of намного to mean "much worse"?
No, you cannot use очень (very) or много (a lot) directly with a comparative like хуже. To modify a comparative in Russian, you must use specific words like намного or гораздо.
Why does the prepositional form of депрессия end in -ии rather than the usual -е?
This is a tricky exception you might remember from earlier. Feminine nouns ending in -ия (like депрессия, история, Россия) do not take the standard -е ending in the prepositional case. Instead, they always change to end in -ии.
Learn Быть в депрессии намного хуже and more in Russian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free