I was reading through one of the Russian books that I used when first teaching myself Russian: Russian: A Self-Teaching Guide (Wiley Self-Teaching Guides). It’s very good actually. It got me to the point where, after five months of study, I could say to a gentleman in Vishki (the little town in Latvia where my grandfather was born), “Мой дедушка родился здесь.”, and he understood me and I could sort of understand what he said. Anyway, I came across a section of the book that I remember not understanding at the time — and I still didn’t completely understand it. I had to get a little help from my wife, a proud member of the Professional Organization of English Majors, because the section opens, “Short adjectives must be used predicatively.” I had no idea what that meant, so I asked her and she said a bunch of stuff that I still don’t understand, but I think I get why and when I’d want to use a short form adjective.
Actually, I found an excellent explanation for predicates in another book of mine English Grammar for Students of Russian (English grammar series). This is a book that was recommended to me, and while I don’t use it often, when I do it’s extremely helpful. It says:
A predicate is a word which defines or describes the subject of a sentence to which it is connected by a linking verb. Depending on whether it is a noun or adjective which follows the linking verb it is called a predicate noun or predicate adjective.
It’s worth pointing out that the book says that in normal conversation the long form tends to predominate and the short form, when used by choice, is often a sign of an educated speaker. That said, there are many times when the student of Russian has used a short form adjective without knowing it. For example:
Я очень рад, что Вы здесь.
рад, рада, радо, рады are short form adjectives, and also the only commonly used short form adjective in Modern Russian that does not have a long form.
All short form adjectives agree with the subject, like рад, but are always nominative. They also convey a sense that the adjective is excessively so, with or without слишком or очень.
Another very familiar short-form adjective is нужен. I’m not sure if должен is one; It looks like one (должен, должна, должно, должны), but doesn’t appear to have a long form. I’ll check on that.
The short form is used with the subjects всё and это:
Всё было ясно. Everything was clear.
Это очень трудно. That’s very difficult.
Previous to this, I thought I was using adverbs — but they were short form adjectives in adverb’s clothing.
Some others that are commonly used (but perhaps not fully explained in class) are свободен (free), прав (correct), and занят (busy).
The short form adjective is impermanent; it describes a term of being right at the moment being described, and it in some cases the long form adjective would create quite a different impression.
“Я холодный.” might imply that the person is a perhaps a cold-hearted person.
“Я холоден.” would work, though of course most people would say “Мне холодно.”
“Он сердитный человек.” means he is always a very ill-tempered man, always angry, where “Он сердит.” means that he is angry right now.
Another place to use the short form adjective is when it is followed by a verb in the infinitive case.
Я готов помогать вам во всём. I am ready to help you with anything.
Again, this makes sense with the idea of it being a temporary thing.
Many adjectives have no short form. In many (or most) cases, it’s clear why. Русский has no short-form adjective. How could you be temporarily Russian? My wife was once of Scottish heritage and now of Danish-German heritage, but that’s another story. :-)
