- Forum >
- Topic: Russian >
- "старший брат"
20 Comments
It appears to be related to the Norwegian "stor". I enjoy finding connections like these. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stor#Norwegian_Bokm%C3%A5l
1987
Yes, this word also means a higher position than similar ones. "Ста́рший сержа́нт", "ста́рший ме́неджер", etc
1987
"Старший брат" means "more old brother". If you want to compare brothers - "этот брат старше другого" = "this brother is older than another one"
So are there rules for making adjectives comparative?
So in English, old becomes older, hard becomes harder etc, and as I understand it, старый means old, while старше means older, yes?
So if I replace the ый with ше in a similar adjective, does that make it comparative? Or is that too much simplicity to hope for?
It is correct to translate it as "elder brother", and Duolingo accepts this. However "older" can also be used within the family, if the person is also considered "old". Hence I can say "my older uncle" (who is 90) as well as "my elder uncle", but not "my older grandchild" (who is presumably still "young")