Breakdown of Лучше идти опушкой, чем густыми зарослями.
идти
to go (on foot) / to proceed, go (of a process)
чем
than / the (in comparisons)
лучше
better
густой
dense
заросли
thickets
опушка
forest edge
Questions & Answers about Лучше идти опушкой, чем густыми зарослями.
Why are опушкой and густыми зарослями in the instrumental case without a preposition?
This is the Bare Instrumental of Route (Творительный пути). Russian uses the bare instrumental case to describe the physical space, terrain, or path through which a movement occurs. Here, it translates to walking along the forest edge and through the thickets, treating the terrain itself almost as the 'instrument' of your movement.
Could I use prepositions instead, like по опушке or через заросли?
Yes, you can. Using по + dative (по опушке) or через + accusative (через густые заросли) is actually more common in everyday spoken Russian. The bare instrumental of route is a bit more descriptive or literary, focusing heavily on the environment you are passing through.
Why is the unidirectional verb идти used here instead of the multidirectional ходить?
Even though this is a general piece of advice, it imagines a single, linear journey from a starting point to a destination. If you used the multidirectional ходить, it would imply aimlessly wandering around back and forth along the forest edge, rather than making progress on a route.
Is the word зарослями always plural?
Yes, the noun заросли (thickets, overgrowth, brushwood) is almost exclusively used in the plural in Russian, much like 'weeds' or 'the woods' in English. It comes from the verb зарастать (to overgrow).
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