лучший
luchshiy
In Russian, "the best" is expressed as лучший (luchshiy).
лучший is used to describe someone or something that has the highest quality or is the most excellent of a group.
How does it change in a sentence?
The form of the adjective changes its ending to match the gender and number of the noun it describes. Use лучший for masculine nouns, лучшая for feminine nouns, лучшее for neuter nouns and лучшие for plural nouns. You can also add the word самый before лучший to create самый лучший, which emphasizes that something is the very best.
How do you pronounce it?
luchshiy
What mistakes should you avoid?
In informal speech, people often say самый лучший, which literally translates to "the most best."
Did you know?
- In some contexts, лучший can be used ironically to describe the 'worst' possible outcome, similar to saying 'just great' in English when something goes wrong.
- The word лучший is the superlative form of хороший ('good'), but it does not follow the standard pattern of adding a suffix to the base word.
- The word лучший evolved from the Proto-Slavic root *lučьjь.
Examples in context
- Я самый лучший.I am the best.This sentence uses лучший to say that the speaker is the best.Tatoeba #805969 by afyodor, translation #409664 by CN
- Он лучший среди нас.He is the best among us.This sentence uses лучший to say that a person is the best among a group.Tatoeba #2790419 by marafon, translation #453067 by jerom
- Том – лучший ученик.Tom is the best student.This sentence uses лучший to describe a student.Tatoeba #8959716 by marafon, translation #8959709 by CK
- Лучший студент годаThe best student of the year
- Лучшая книга моего детстваThe best book of my childhood
- У этого ресторана самые лучшие блюдаThis restaurant has the best dishes
- Твой новый гаджет бомбический!Your new gadget is awesome!
- 345 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Olga and Alexander are discussing a restaurant.
- Ольга OlgaЭтот ресторан лучший в городе.Etot restoran luchshiy v gorode.This restaurant is the best in town.
- Александр AleksandrЯ согласен, еда здесь отличная.Ya soglasen, yeda zdes' otlichnaya.I agree, the food here is excellent.
- Ольга OlgaА какой здесь лучший десерт?A kakoy zdes' luchshiy desert?And what is the best dessert here?
- Александр AleksandrПопробуй шоколадный торт, он прекрасен.Poprobuy shokoladnyy tort, on prekrasen.Try the chocolate cake, it is wonderful.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries лучший, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
