Russian · TORFL Band 1 (A1) · Chapter 41
Самое большое животноеThe biggest animal
Nature and animals. Words: природа, животное, птица, дерево, река, гора, море, лес, цветок, рыба, медведь, небо. Key grammar: САМЫЙ + adjective — the superlative («the biggest», «the most beautiful»). «Самый» agrees with the noun in gender, number and case: самый большой лес (masc.), самая высокая гора (fem.), самое глубокое море (neut.), самые красивые цветы (plural). This deepens the comparison from chapter 26 (short form + genitive: «больше меня», bigger than me): the comparative = «больше», the superlative = «самый большой». English speakers’ mistake: in English «most» does not change, so they leave «самый» without agreement: «самый большая гора» ✗ → «самая большая гора» ✓. Reading: the letter «ж» (hard «zh») and the stress in «живóтное».
Dialogue
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Самая большая гора— The biggest mountain
- mike
- ivan
- mike
- ivan
- mike
- ivan
Dialogue
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Моё любимое место— My favourite place
- anya
- ivan
- anya
- ivan
- anya
- ivan
Vocabulary
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- природа
nounnature
- животное
nounanimal
- птица
nounbird
- дерево
nountree
- река
nounriver
- гора
nounmountain
- море
nounsea
- лес
nounforest
- цветок
nounflower
- рыба
nounfish
- медведь
nounbear
- небо
nounsky
Grammar
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Самый + adjective — the superlative
Explanation
«Самый» + an adjective forms the SUPERLATIVE: «самый большой» (the biggest), «самая красивая» (the most beautiful). «Самый» is a separate word before the adjective, and it AGREES with the noun like any adjective (chapter 20): masculine — самый (самый большой лес), feminine — самая (самая высокая гора), neuter — самое (самое глубокое море), plural — самые (самые красивые цветы). Recall chapter 26: that was the COMPARATIVE — short form + genitive: «Слон больше собаки» (an elephant is bigger than a dog). Now the superlative: «Слон — самое большое животное» (an elephant is the biggest animal). The comparative compares two things; the superlative singles one out of all. English speakers’ mistake: in English «the most / -est» does not change for gender, so they say «самый» for everything: «самый большая гора» ✗. But «гора» is feminine, so «самая большая гора» ✓. Always agree «самый» with the noun.
Examples
- Слон — самое большое животное.The elephant is the biggest animal.
- Это самая высокая гора.This is the highest mountain.
- Волга — самая длинная река в Европе.The Volga is the longest river in Europe.
- Это самый красивый цветок в саду.This is the most beautiful flower in the garden.
- Медведь — самое сильное животное в лесу.The bear is the strongest animal in the forest.
Cyrillic
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Буква «ж» и ударение в «живóтное»— The letter «ж» and the stress in «живóтное»
This chapter’s words contain the letter «ж»: «животное», and also «жираф» (a giraffe). «Ж» is always a HARD sound «zh», like «j» in French «journal» or «s» in English «measure». It is never soft, even before «и» and «е»: «жир», «жена» sound like «жы», «жэ». The second point is stress. The word «животное» is stressed on the SECOND syllable: живóтное (zhi-VÓT-na-ye), not «жИвотное». The unstressed «о» at the start sounds like «а». Read slowly and keep «ж» hard.
Read the words aloud:
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