58 votes
Accepted

Isn't it demanding to ask for something with "Ich möchte"?

"Ich möchte" doesn't really correspond to "I want", but more to something like "I would like...". "I want" would be more something like "ich will", ...
Henning Kockerbeck's user avatar
15 votes
Accepted

Positiv, Komparativ, Superlativ – How does superlative take a noun form in German?

There is nothing wrong with Du bist am schnellsten. Du bist am schönsten. These are perfectly correct German sentences. Steigerungsformen (increments) Positiv (positive) Du bist schnell. Du bist ...
Hubert Schölnast's user avatar
12 votes

Isn't it demanding to ask for something with "Ich möchte"?

"Ich möchte" is perceived as a more polite form of "ich will", so translating both to "I want" will lose important nuance and arguably be wrong. Grammatically, "ich ...
Carsten S's user avatar
  • 20.4k
11 votes

"Sehr viel" + Komparativ - Grammatisch korrekt?

Das ist eine gängige Art der besonderen Betonung und grammatikalisch vollkommen richtig. Manchmal hört man auch Varianten mit verdoppeltem Adjektiv (viel viel schlechter), aber hier bin ich nicht ...
Tode's user avatar
  • 9,438
10 votes

Isn't it demanding to ask for something with "Ich möchte"?

"Ich möchte" does not translate as "I want". It means that you have a wish, not a demand. To a waiter you would typically say "Ich möchte bitte das Steak" which is a bit ...
Paul Frost's user avatar
  • 10.4k
9 votes
Accepted

"Sehr viel" + Komparativ - Grammatisch korrekt?

Das ist vollkommen korrekt, nichts spricht dagegen. In der Mathematik gibt es z.B. auch ein Zeichen, das "sehr viel größer als" heißt: ⋙ Und natürlich gibt es auch "sehr viel kleiner ...
Hubert Schölnast's user avatar
9 votes

Positiv, Komparativ, Superlativ – How does superlative take a noun form in German?

The German “Du bist der Schnellste” is in fact analogous to English “You are the fastest”. Du bist der Schnellste │ │ └──────┬─────┘ │ │ ┌──────┴───────────────────────────────┐ You are ...
leftaroundabout's user avatar
8 votes

Difference Between "langer" and "länger"

We are talking about the adjective lang here. Notice that the initial letter of german adjectives is usually lowercase, though there are exceptions, which I won't go into now. The form langer is ...
Björn Friedrich's user avatar
8 votes
Accepted

Is "am einmaligsten" a valid superlative

The form is constructed according to the normal way of forming superlatives, and you immediately recognized it as such. I'd say this means that the intent of the speaker came across to you load and ...
Kilian Foth's user avatar
  • 14.8k
7 votes

Is "am einmaligsten" a valid superlative

It isn't a superlativ, it is a Hyperlativ. While people knowing German grammar will balk at its usage, it is used, mostly for a hypothetical thing which is impossible because it combines advantages ...
Thorsten S.'s user avatar
6 votes
Accepted

Kann jemand diese Benutzung von "häufiger" erklären?

Man könnte sagen, "häufiger" hat hier einen impliziten Vergleich. Wenn man in dieser Form "häufiger" statt "häufig" verwendet, impliziert das etwas wie "häufiger als ...
Henning Kockerbeck's user avatar
6 votes

Do the vowels of all monosyllabic adjectives change into »umlaut« in comparative / superlative form?

How do we know which adjective is monosyllabic in German? A monosyllabic word has only one syllable (mono- → Greek for one or alone). Therefore, you will immediately notice if a word is ...
Björn Friedrich's user avatar
6 votes

Infinitive and use of "dass" in a sentence

I would say "Denkst du, dass es besser ist, allein zu sein, als zusammen?" (notice that the comma comes before dass) or "Denkst du, allein zu sein ist besser als zusammen?" Both are equally ...
ths's user avatar
  • 320
5 votes
Accepted

Am wichtigsten usage

The English phrase most importantly is somewhat fixed, and it translates into the German phrase Am wichtigsten ist es, dass sich die Lieferung nächste Woche nicht verzögert. quite nicely. But you ...
Janka's user avatar
  • 57.4k
5 votes

Difference Between "langer" and "länger"

Google translate is inferior to a decent dictionary, and there are many ones online which would have answered this question (which is therefore likely to be closed). Langer is the masculine adjective,...
guidot's user avatar
  • 27.9k
5 votes

Why is it "ein wichtiger Tag" rather than "ein wichtig Tag"?

Check these forms of "groß": Der Mann ist groß, die Fau ist groß, das Kind ist groß. Der große Mann, die große Frau, das große Kind. Ein großer Mann, eine große Frau, ein großes Kind. ...
Hagen von Eitzen's user avatar
5 votes

Positiv, Komparativ, Superlativ – How does superlative take a noun form in German?

To supplement Hubert Schölnast's answer a bit, you can also change adjectives to nouns in English, but this occurs less frequently and with a slightly different meaning. (This question also talks ...
RDBury's user avatar
  • 10.7k
4 votes

Do the vowels of all monosyllabic adjectives change into »umlaut« in comparative / superlative form?

The often cited rule is actually more complicated: Most common adjectives of one syllable whose stem- vowel is a, o, or u (not au), take Umlaut in the comparative. However, as pointed out in the ...
Janka's user avatar
  • 57.4k
4 votes
Accepted

Komparativ von "daneben" (umgangssprachlich)

Man muß die Vorstellung von Steigerung im Sinne von Intensivierung von der Komparation der Adjektive trennen. Die sogenannten Grad- oder Intensitätspartikeln (canoo, grammis) dienen dazu, um Wörter ...
David Vogt's user avatar
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4 votes

Kann "grundlegend" im Komparativ oder Superlativ verwendet werden?

Grammatikalisch gesehen: Ja. Wiktionary sagt, es gibt Nachweise für Komparativ und Superlativ. ngrams findet durchaus einige Stellen, wobei die Fundstellen für den Komparativ alle nur Deklinationen ...
tofro's user avatar
  • 62.8k
4 votes

What form is “öfters” that it requires an “s” (sentence shared in post)

In your example you can choose öfter or öfters as you please. There is the difference, that öfter is a comparative as you correctly observed. So in most cases it asks for something else to be compared ...
guidot's user avatar
  • 27.9k
3 votes
Accepted

Probleme bei der Interpretation eines Satzes

Das Problem ist das Wort "befürchtet", das eine negative Erwartung ausdrückt. Mehr als befürchtet bedeutet stets, dass eine solche negative Erwartung noch übertroffen wird. Anders gesagt: Es ...
Paul Frost's user avatar
  • 10.4k
3 votes

What's the difference between "lange" and "länger"?

While länger is the comparative from of lang, in your example no comparison takes place. One could claim, that als ein paar Minuten (than a few minutes) was meant, but omitted, however. But it is ...
guidot's user avatar
  • 27.9k
3 votes

Komparativ von "daneben" (umgangssprachlich)

Ich denke umgangssprachlich ist Claudias Antwort war noch mehr daneben. OK. Meines Wissens hat das Adverb daneben keine Komparativform, d.h., es gibt kein danebener. Das ist korrekt. ...
πάντα ῥεῖ's user avatar
3 votes

What form is “öfters” that it requires an “s” (sentence shared in post)

I fully agree with the existing answer (guidot) on the semantics of öfters vs. öfter: öfter can be used in comparisons ("öfter als..."), or as a standalone adverb ("somewhat frequently&...
marquinho's user avatar
  • 1,199
3 votes
Accepted

Declension of "klein" in "Ich hatte ein paar kleinere medizinische Eingriffe."

Ich hatte ein Paar kleinere Eingriffe. Firstly, "paar" instead of "Paar" should be used, because Eingriffe does not come in pairs. Ein Paar. Ein = Article. Paar = noun. (A ...
EagleFliesBanana's user avatar
3 votes
Accepted

Guidance on comparatives and superlatives with optional umlauts

There is no difference in meaning between the versions that add an Umlaut and those that don't. There is also, likely, no difference in register between the two versions. There may be a bit more of a ...
tofro's user avatar
  • 62.8k
2 votes
Accepted

What is the German equivalent of "at that" as in "a weak A2, at that"?

… , und ich bin ein schwacher A2. The problem from the beginning is this phrase is unidiomatic. If someone said that to me, I would immediately assume too much exposure to English. The idiomatic ...
Janka's user avatar
  • 57.4k
2 votes

Komparativ von "daneben" (umgangssprachlich)

Für mich bedeutet völlig daneben, bezogen auf eine Äußerung, wegen des völlig eher absolut inakzeptabel (ein No-Go, ein Geht gar nicht) als unpassend (ungeschickt, unüberlegt, unangebracht), und '...
Ralf Joerres's user avatar
  • 4,680
2 votes

Comparative and "zu" sentence

In a comparison „Eher x als y“ the phrase y only names the difference to x. In your examples the infinitive „heiraten“ matches „sterben“, while „zu heiraten“ matches the whole predicate „sterben ...
Ralph's user avatar
  • 964

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