Thread: Stress in comparatives that undergo final consonant mutation

Will stress of adjectives ever fall on the comparative ending if the final consonant undergoes consonant mutation?

Here's a big list of words that my textbook gives that fit this category:

• гро́мкий - гро́мко - гро́мче
• просто́й - про́сто - про́ще
• ча́стый - ча́сто - ча́ще
• дорого́й - до́рого - доро́же
• стро́гий - стро́го - стро́же
• ти́хий - ти́хо - ти́ше
• молодо́й - мо́лодо - моло́же
• лёгкий - легко́ - ле́гче
• высо́кий - высоко́ - вы́ше
• ни́зкий - ни́зко - ни́же
• дешёвый - дёшево - деше́вле
• до́лгий - до́лго - до́льше
• коро́ткий - ко́ротко - коро́че
• ста́рый - старо́ - ста́рше (старе́е for things)
• ра́нний - ра́но - ра́ньше
• по́здний - по́здно - по́зже

It's been pointed out to me that many adjectives with monosyllabic roots will have ending stress in the comparative. However, none of the such above exhibit that property. Plenty others do, however (ста́рый - старе́е; тёплый - тепле́е; бы́стрый - быстре́е). I'm just wondering if there's some sort of rule or pattern here. It would be useful when "guessing" new comparatives from any given adjective or adverb.

EDIT: поздний is soft-stem..!

по́здный should be по́здний

Don't think there is specific rule

I don't know if there are any "rules", but yes, looks like adjective with consonant mutation in comparative don't have stressed ending. Moreover they have different endings: "e" instead of "ee" or "eй".

I incline to admit that your hypotheses works!

And a minor note about the "старее/старше" thing. I've never thought abouth this, your point is interesting.
However, I would say (other people might disagree) that "старше" is more like the comparative to "старший" (elder) rather than to "старый" (old).
And "старее" can be used referring to people in the sense of "even more elderly".

As to things, it's easy: старый is old, старее is older.
As to people, "старый" is not just "old". For example, the phrase "He is 20 years old" cannot be translated into Russian using the word "старый". How can someone who is just 20 be "old"? The adjective "старый" when applied to a person means that someone is in his declining years, usually after 70 or alike. In this sense, "старее" can be used as its comparative:
- Мой дед старый, ему 80 лет.
- А мой дед ещё старее, ему 90 лет. (Although, "старше" would also work perfectly here).

However, "старший" does not assume any specific age, it stands for one's relative age. So, it is fine to say "старший брат, старшая сестра" etc.
And its comparative form is "старше".
Антону 25 лет. Игорю 30 лет. => Игорь старше Антона.
Now, "старее" cannot be used, as none of them (Антон и Игорь) is "старый" (old). They are both "молодые" (young). But one is older than another. Here we can only use "старше".

Originally Posted by Боб Уайтман

However, I would say (other people might disagree) that "старше" is more like the comparative to "старший" (elder) rather than to "старый" (old).
And "старее" can be used referring to people in the sense of "even more elderly".

I think, perhaps, that the nuances you describe are overlooked or are outside the scope of my course.


I guess, since there seems to be agreement (on an apparent pattern, not necessarily a rule), I'll just keep this in mind as something that's probably correct to guess! Thanks for the replies!