Short-form adjectives as predicates

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Short-form adjectives (SFAs) are used only as the 'is/are' part of a sentence (predicates). They change for gender and number but never for case. While long forms describe permanent traits, short forms often describe temporary states or specific situations.

How It Works

1. Morphology and Agreement
Short-form adjectives agree with the subject in gender and number but do not decline for case. They are always in the nominative function.

  • Masculine: Zero ending (stem only). Example: красив
  • Feminine: Ending -а. Example: красива
  • Neuter: Ending -о. Example: красиво
  • Plural: Ending -ы/-и. Example: красивы

2. Qualitative vs. Relational Adjectives
Only qualitative adjectives (describing gradable qualities like 'smart' or 'cold') can have short forms. Relational adjectives (describing materials, origins, or locations like 'деревянный' - wooden, or 'русский' - Russian) never have short forms.

3. Fleeting Vowels (Беглые гласные)
If a masculine stem ends in two consonants, a vowel (о, е, ё) is often inserted for pronunciation. For example, умный becomes умён, and близкий becomes близок.

4. Stress Shifts
A significant feature of short forms is the stress shift. In many adjectives, the stress moves to the final vowel in the feminine form while remaining on the stem in other forms. Example: прав, правы, but права (stressed on the 'а').

5. Meaning: Temporary vs. Permanent
While long forms usually denote inherent qualities, short forms often denote:

  • Temporary states: Он болен (He is ill now) vs. Он больной (He is a sickly person).
  • Situational qualities: Often implying 'too much' for a purpose. Эти брюки мне велики (These pants are [too] big for me).

6. Mandatory Short Forms
Some adjectives are almost exclusively used in the short form in the predicate: должен (must), готов (ready), рад (glad), согласен (agree), нужен (needed).

7. Register
In modern Russian, short forms (outside of the mandatory ones) often sound more formal, literary, or 'bookish' compared to the colloquial long forms.

Examples (5)

  1. Он очень занят сегодня.

    He is very busy today.

    Word by Word: He very busy today.

    'Занят' is the masculine short form of 'занятый'. It describes a temporary state.

  2. Эта задача трудна, но выполнима.

    This task is difficult, but doable.

    Word by Word: This task difficult, but doable.

    Short forms 'трудна' and 'выполнима' are used here for a more formal, literary tone.

  3. Вы правы, я согласен с вами.

    You are right, I agree with you.

    Word by Word: You right, I agree with you.

    'Правы' (plural/polite) and 'согласен' (masculine) are adjectives that are standardly used in the short form.

  4. Книга мне очень нужна.

    I really need the book.

    Word by Word: Book to me very needed.

    'Нужна' is a short-form adjective agreeing with the feminine subject 'книга'.

  5. Этот мальчик очень умён.

    This boy is very clever.

    Word by Word: This boy very clever.

    Note the fleeting vowel 'ё' in 'умён' (from 'умный') to break up the consonant cluster.

Common Mistakes

  • Using a short-form adjective before a noun (attributive use).

    Это занят день.
    Это занятый день.

    Short forms can only be predicates (the 'is' part). To describe a noun directly, you must use the long form.

  • Forgetting the fleeting vowel in masculine forms.

    Он очень умн.
    Он очень умён.

    When the stem ends in a cluster like 'мн', Russian inserts a vowel (usually 'ё' or 'е') in the masculine singular short form.

  • Incorrect gender agreement with 'нужен'.

    Мне нужен книга.
    Мне нужна книга.

    The short form must agree with the subject (the thing needed), which is 'книга' (feminine), not the person who needs it.

How It Connects

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Short-form adjectives as predicatesLevel 4

Learn This First

To learn short-form adjectives as predicates, you first need to understand how Russian adjectives agree with nouns in gender and number in the nominative case. You should also be familiar with the zero-copula structure in the present tense, where an adjective acts as the main predicate of the sentence.