Thread: The eternal question

What is the difference between больше/более, меншье/менее, раньше/ранее, дальше/далее?

Thank you

Originally Posted by V

What is the difference between больше/более, меншье/менее, раньше/ранее, дальше/далее?

Thank you

First of all, only более and менее are used in comparative forms of adjectives and adverbs.
Эта чашка менее красива -- This cup is less beautiful.
Ещё более удачливый -- Even more lucky.

In general, forms ending with -ше are more commonly used and are stylistically neutral, while -ее forms may sound a bit obsolete or pompous if you use them carelessly. They tend to occur more commonly in formal and poetic language.

больше/более, меншье/менее, раньше/ранее, дальше/далее

больше and меньше mean more and less and are used with NOUNS (they refer to more quantity) e.g. more cars, more money, more people

более and менее means more and less and are used with ADJECTIVES and ADVERBS (they refer to quality) e.g. more funny (funier), more interesting, more rich (richer).

K, how about раньше/ранее, дальше/далее?

Далее is used in the phrase и так далее - and so on. (etc.)
It means 'Next', like on a web page, you would have Назад (back), and Далее (forward).

Дальше means further (spatially, e.g. further away from the city) and also implies subsequent actions: А дальше что случилось? - and what happened next?

Nice, that's a lot of good info. What about ранее/раншье though? Is it something similar to далее/дальше?

Originally Posted by TATY

Далее is used in the phrase и так далее - and so on. (etc.)
It means 'Next', like on a web page, you would have Назад (back), and Далее (forward).

That's correct, but the use of "далее" is not limited to "и так далее". While some of the -ее forms do have specialized uses like the one you mentioned, all of them can be also used in the same sense as the corresponding "-ше" forms, the difference being stylistic rather then semantic.

Originally Posted by V

Nice, that's a lot of good info. What about ранее/раншье though? Is it something similar to далее/дальше?

yes, it is the same logic for all such words