just more more way to confuse foreigners...

[im-such-a-slav.livejournal.com]

can i get some clarification on the short form of adjectives?

all information is appreciated, but my main question is which form (short or long) implies a permanent characteristic?
I have heard conflicting answers to this question from people, and am a bit confused.

thanks.

Comments

[ex-ex-zhuzh.livejournal.com]

When used as a predicate, long form usually implies some sort of permanence.

Он болен (now).
Он больной (generally).

But this is not absolute.

[yozhevich.livejournal.com]

So, would you use "он болен" if something is curable, and "он больной" if is a more permanent or terminal illness?

I was taught differently: that болен was usually used for physical illnesses, and больной for mental illnesses. But certainly больной would also make sense for long-term illnesses... Please clarify for me! Thanks!

[maksa.livejournal.com]

There is no principal difference. You can say "эта женщина красива" or "эта женщина красивая" (this woman is beautiful), and both sentences will mean nearly the same.

However, if you say "he is very strong now", it is better (and often necessarily) to use the short form: "он сейчас очень силён".

Additionally, as you may be know, the short form isn't used before nouns and pronouns (although there are some exceptions).

[boo-7.livejournal.com]

It's a difficult question and many russians make mistakes.
When a long form of an adjective is part of the Compound Nominal Predicate then there can't be any words that describe the adj. But if you use short form you can add different discriptions.
Он был болен ангиной(You can't say: Он был больной ангиной)
Or Он способен к музыке( not Он способный к музыке)