Thread: the comparative

e.g.
сильней or сильнее
How do you know which ending to use?

Example please?

The right ending is сильнее

Я сильнее тебя - I am stronger than you

Originally Posted by kalinka_vinnie

Example please?

The right ending is сильнее

Я сильнее тебя - I am stronger than you

Сильней is also correct, but it's more upscale and poetic. Virtually all -ей comparatives are.

Originally Posted by sperk

e.g.
сильней or сильнее
How do you know which ending to use?

It is the same.
В быстрой разговорной речи окончание -ее часто произносится как -ей.
I woudn't say that the ending -ей sounds more upscale and poetic. Not at all.

Say, is this like the difference between зимой and зимою?

I'm still not totally clear on that.

Runs away...

Originally Posted by scotcher

Say, is this like the difference between зимой and зимою?

No, it is another thing.

Originally Posted by scotcher

Say, is this like the difference between зимой and зимою?

I'm still not totally clear on that.

Runs away...

Surely, сильней = сильнее.

Maybe somebody could explain better.

Originally Posted by scotcher

Say, is this like the difference between зимой and зимою?

I'm still not totally clear on that.

Runs away...

It's not the entirely same thing, but is similar.

Basically the normal comparative ending is -ее, but the short ending -ей can be found, mainly in poetry and older stuff, often to help make stuff rhyme.
So сильнее = сиьлней, but in an everyday context it's best to use сильнее. Also there is the более сильный variant.

The instrumental noun and adjective ending has a long (old) form in -ою.
So the normal instrumental of "with a beautiful girl is:" "с красивой девушкой", but a more poetic / archaic form would be "с красивою девушкою". I don't think people use this form in everyday speech, but in poetry and songs and such it is used to help with rhyme.

Originally Posted by TATY

So сильнее = сиьлней, but in an everyday context it's best to use сильнее.

I categorically disagree!
It's not "best to use" in an everyday context! It's just a shortening which appears automatically in a colloquial speech! I'd almost never notice if some person said "сильней" or "сильнее". Try to understand, it's just almost like "I am" and "I'm". There is nooo any stylistic difference between сильней and сильнее!

But as for Зимой/зимою - yes, there is a stylistic difference. Words with -ою endings really sound archaic and poetic and people don't speak so in a colloquial speech.

Originally Posted by Оля

...There is nooo _ stylistic difference between сильней and сильнее! ...

или быстрей и быстрее.

Originally Posted by Оля

Originally Posted by sperk

e.g.
сильней or сильнее
How do you know which ending to use?

It is the same.
В быстрой разговорной речи окончание -ее часто произносится как -ей.
I woudn't say that the ending -ей sounds more upscale and poetic. Not at all.

No no, I was talking about the spelling. I saw this pelling only in poems.

Originally Posted by Yazeed

I saw this pelling only in poems.

Strange...

Originally Posted by Оля

Originally Posted by TATY

So сильнее = сиьлней, but in an everyday context it's best to use сильнее.

I don't agree categorically!
It's not "best to use" in an everyday context! It's just a shortening which appears automatically in a colloquial speech! I'd almost never notice if some person said "сильней" or "сильнее". Try to understand, it's just almost like "I am" and "I'm". There is nooo any stylistic difference between сильней and сильнее!

But as for Зимой/зимою - yes, there is a stylistic difference. Words with -ою endings really sound archaic and poetic and people don't speak so in a colloquial speech.

Surely in everday speech though, at normal speed, it's hard to tell the difference between сильней and сильнее. Also, I wrote "everyday context" to mean writing, not in speech.

Originally Posted by TATY

Also, I wrote "everyday context" to mean writing, not in speech.

Сильнее and сильней, слабее and слабей (and so on) is the same for me in the writing, too.

But сильнее on google is almost 10 times more popular than сильней:

сильней:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&sa ... 9%22&meta=

сильнее:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&sa ... 5%22&meta=

Originally Posted by Оля

I _ categorically disagree!

The sentence you wrote would mean, "I agree with you, but not completely", which is nearly the opposite of what (I think) you were trying to say.

Originally Posted by TATY

But сильнее on google is almost 10 times more popular than сильней:

So what?

And, by the way, Google is not the authority in the linguistics question.

Grogs, thank you very much for your correction.

Google is not the authority in the linguistics question.

+ десять в сотой степени. :P

I remember Charlestonian used to use the google argument too, and was ridiculed every single time. By the way, where is our old friend?

Originally Posted by kalinka_vinnie

I remember Charlestonian used to use the google argument too, and was ridiculed every single time. By the way, where is our old friend?

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