Breakdown of Этот сбой хуже прошлого кризиса.
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
хуже
worse
кризис
the crisis (m)
прошлый
last, past
сбой
the disruption (m)
Questions & Answers about Этот сбой хуже прошлого кризиса.
Why is there no word for "than" in this Russian sentence?
When making a comparison in Russian, you can often drop the word чем (than) and simply put the thing being compared to into the Genitive case. Here, прошлого кризиса (the previous crisis) is in the Genitive case directly after the comparative adjective хуже (worse).
Can I rewrite this sentence using чем (than)?
Yes, you can say Этот сбой хуже, чем прошлый кризис. Notice that when you use чем, the noun phrase that follows it goes back to the Nominative case. Both structures are completely natural and widely used at the B2 level.
What exact kind of "disruption" is a сбой?
Сбой generally refers to a "glitch," "malfunction," or "system failure." It is most commonly used for technical issues, computer crashes, or operational disruptions, rather than broad social or political disruptions.
Wait, isn't хуже an adverb meaning "worse"?
Хуже acts as both the comparative adjective for плохой (bad) and the comparative adverb for плохо (badly). In this sentence, it functions as a short-form comparative adjective describing the subject сбой (disruption).
Learn Этот сбой хуже прошлого кризиса 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