Breakdown of У него дурной характер.
его
him / it (acc)
у
at, by
характер
character, personality
дурной
bad (foolish, foul)
Questions & Answers about У него дурной характер.
Why use дурной here instead of the more common плохой?
While плохой simply means bad, дурной carries a stronger, more specific nuance of something nasty, unpleasant, or foolish. When combined with характер, it specifically implies that someone is ill-tempered, difficult to deal with, or has a nasty disposition.
In English, a bad character can mean someone is immoral or a criminal. Does дурной характер imply the same thing?
Not usually. In Russian, характер is a false friend when it comes to morality. It primarily refers to a person's temperament or personality. Therefore, this sentence means he has a difficult or nasty personality, not necessarily that he is an evil or immoral person.
Is it natural to say он имеет дурной характер instead of using the У него construction?
While grammatically possible, using иметь for personal traits sounds overly formal, like a psychological or police report. The У + [Genitive] + [Nominative] structure used here is the standard, natural way to express someone's physical or personality traits in conversational Russian.
Does the word дурной have other common uses at this level?
Yes, it frequently appears in set collocations where плохой wouldn't sound as natural. Common examples you will encounter include дурной тон (bad manners or poor taste), дурная привычка (a bad habit), and дурной пример (a bad example).
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