Adjectives that describe a state of being have two forms, a long form and a short form:
интересные факты – interesting facts
факты интересны – the facts are interesting
пустой холодильник – an empty fridge
холодильник пуст – the fridge is empty
Note: рад (glad) and должен (obliged to) have only short forms
- Long forms of adjectives agree in gender, case and number with the noun that they refer to:
- Short forms of adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun that they refer to. They do not decline. They are used only as predicative adjectives.
Forms
Long form (nominative) | Short form | ||
singular | masculine | красивый город a beautiful town |
город красив the town is beautiful |
feminine | глубокая река a deep river |
река глубока the river is deep |
|
neuter | правильное решение a correct decision |
решение правильно the decision is correct |
|
plural | красивые дома beautiful houses |
дома красивы houses are beautiful |
Fleeting Vowels
When there are two consonants together at the end of the stem of the long adjective, then a «fleeting» -о or -е (-ё) is inserted in the masculine short form:
близкий (close by) → близок, долгий (long) → долог, бедный (poor) → беден
before -к-
низкий (low) – низок
лёгкий (light) – легок
сладкий (sweet) – сладок
тонкий (thin) – тонок
узкий (narrow) – узок
before -н
больной (ill) – болен
вредный (harmful) – вреден
полезный (useful) – полезен
трудный (difficult) – труден
нужный (necessary) – нужен
But: полный (full) – полон, горький (bitter) – горек, смешной (funny) – смешон
There is no fleeting vowel between -с and -т: простой (simple, easy) – прост, пустой (empty) – пуст, толстый (fat, thick) – толст, чистый (clean, pure) – чист
Function in the sentence
- Long adjectives can be used to qualify nouns or after certain verbs (быть, стать…):
- Short adjectives can only be used as predicative adjectives.
The use of long and short forms of adjectives.
Long form
1. spoken language
2. for a permanent characteristic
3. a characteristic of the person or object described
Short form
1. more literary, formal language
2. for a temporary state
3. a characteristic that depends on exterior factors
- With word ‘это’ always use neuter short form:
Это понятно. – That makes sense.
Это было странно. – It was odd. - Certain adjectives have very different meanings in their long and short forms
Пушкин – великий поэт. – Pushkin is a great poet.
Эти туфли мне велики. – These shoes are too big for me.
Read also: Adjectives in Russian language