"Ей нужен размер поменьше."

Translation: She needs a smaller size.

[wyqtor]

The Bolsheviks are bigger, the Mensheviks are smaller. Got it.

[LivingLifeform]

да товарищ!

[DmitriiKarpov]

Плесните ему кипяточку! :)

Как бы странно это не звучало)))

[Dave168907]

A size smaller does not mean the same thing as a smaller size. A size smaller would be from size 8 to size 7, for example, that is, ONE size smaller. A smaller size could mean any size smaller than the size in question.

[Gustave_L]

Indeed

[KnossosDomovoi]

Why is the masculine "нужен" used here instead of the feminine "нужна"?

[Sphinx1824]

Because it matches размер. With нужен, the object needed is in the nominative and the person who needs is in the dative case.

[ShukurluKamran]

So Он нужен is "he is needed", but Ему нужен is "he needs"?

[LeVinDuRosier]

[NathanielT210380]

what?

[daadaadaaren]

what does the по- mean in adjectives?

[Joke514096]

A little bit

[PatrickJam17]

So could this be 'she needs a slightly smaller size'?

[Gustav_Lundin]

She needs vs she is in need of? Got denied on the latter one

[iyoossaev]

What's the difference between ме́ньше and ме́нее?

[richardensor]

Does поменьше literally mean "a little bit smaller"?

[iyoossaev]

It seems so. It also means "a bit less".

[bendespain]

So, I kinda remember seeing Ей before, but I forget... What's the difference between Ей and она?

[iyoossaev]

This: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_case
Which is Russian looks like that: https://ru.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B0#.D0.A0.D1.83.D1.81.D1.81.D0.BA.D0.B8.D0.B9

[bendespain]

Hmm, don't quite get it. Says she and her are different cases in English... but this is she and she...

[iyoossaev]

But English has 2 (3) cases, while Russian has 7. Of course Russian will distinguish things that English doesn't. Also, I have never in my life seen any two languages whose cases are identical in function. The mistake you are making here is thinking you can translate one English structure into an equivalent Russian one. You can't. You have to make another one.
This structure here actually goes along the lines “To here [Dat] • (is) needed • size [Acc] • little-smaller“. Grammatically speaking, it's the same structure as English “I am writing a letter [Acc] to her [Dat]”.

[SharonGBro]

I wrote "She needs the smaller size." Why is this incorrect?

[Greg425747]

This must be the girlfriend that eats a lot and can't cook.

[DVs114]

في اللغة العربية نقول يلزم لها اي يستوجب لها