важнее всего
скорее всего
больше всего
So far, I've contented myself with putting this down to just because, but I wonder why in Russian you use a comparative form to refer to the superlative notion of "the most ... of all".
asked Mar 20, 2018 at 17:40
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Could you give examples? The question isn't quite clear.– V.V.Mar 20, 2018 at 17:55
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Hi. I'm curious about the rationale for not using the superlative "важнейший всего" or "важнейшее всего".– Con-gras-tue-les-chiensMar 20, 2018 at 18:02
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3Perhaps you mix adverbs with adjectives.– V.V.Mar 20, 2018 at 19:37
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3Важный-важнее-самый важный(adjective ), важно-важнее-важнее всего (adverb (– V.V.Mar 20, 2018 at 19:40
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the pattern "the most ... of all" in Russian looks like "самый + adjective + из всех (, которые...) / (из всего, что...)" not "самый + adjective + всего" in case it's relevant– Баян Купи-каMar 20, 2018 at 20:17
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2 Answers
In English one can say 'more important than anything'.
In Russian one can say важнейший из всех.
Both languages can use either the comparative or the superlative to express the same idea.
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2+1. «Из всех видов искусств для нас важнейшим является кино». В.Ленин// "Важней всего — погода в доме" (song)– ElenaMar 21, 2018 at 10:44
There are 3 constructions with more or less the same meaning (X stands for an adjective):
- more X than anything (Xer than anything)
- the most X (the Xest)
- the most X of all (the Xest of all)
In Russian that will be (using certain adjectives, as I cannot find how to generalize)
- Важнее всего (более важно чем что-либо) – note that option in parenthesis sounds a bit strange. It might be better with some other adjectives, but I'm not sure. It could be used for adjectives without comparative forma, but I can't remember if there are any such adjectives in Russian.
- важнейший (самый важный) – unlike previous construction, in this case both options are perfectly interchangeable, even if adjective has superlative form
- важнейший из всех (самый важный из всех) – perfectly interchangeable options.
