was ist besser

Am so confused, again

In lesson 6.5 

Der kleinere Mann ist mein Freund Michael.

And the next sentence too

I can find no explanation for adjectives ending in re. er yes, in the lesson on adjectives in the nominative and accusative. Could someone please refer me to the lesson where this is covered.

Would be appreciated.

Maxie

Hi Maxie, 

Thank you for your qurestion! 

Lesson 6.5 is about comparative endings. In most cases you just need to add er to the adjective, such as “Der Mann ist kleiner.” - “The man is shorter.”

When comparatives are placed before a noun however, you need to add the appropriate adjective endings, such as “der kleinere Mann.” - “The shorter man”. 

“der kleinere Mann” is nominative masculine singular which means you need to add an e to the comparative form er. If it wasn't comparative, it would be “der kleine Mann” - "the short man".

Explanations on these endings can be found in both lesson 5.8 ‘Adjectives in the Nominative and Accusative’ and lesson 10.8 ‘Adjective Endings’.

The next sentence you are referring to is:

“Haben Sie längere Kleider?” - “Do you have (any) longer dresses?”

Here, there is no article in front of the adjective which means the adjective itself has to indicate the case in place of the article. If there was an article, the sentence would change into: 

“Haben Sie die längeren Kleider?” - “Do you have the longer dresses?” (accusative, neuter, plural)

But since there is no article, the adjective needs to take the ending of the definite article so it becomes: “Haben Sie längere Kleider?” - “Do you have (any) longer dresses?”

I hope this helps!

Viele Grüße,

Julia

Danke Julia

That explains it, but in all the lesson I can not see this explanation and that frustrates me. In the tables given there is no kleinere and I find that Rocket does that in all 3 languages I am studying. I think a revsion of the grammar lessons need updating. Right at the beginning of level one for example “Der Stadt” was mentioned . but no explanation as to why. In Spanish there is an exact confusion going on with another grammar point and Italian does this too.

I know this is not your problem, but it is frustrating.

Maxie

Hallo Maxie,

I'm sorry to hear that you're feeling frustrated! The explanation on adding adjective endings onto comparative adjectives can be found in Lesson 6.5: “What Is Better?” under the heading "Comparatives Before Nouns." I've asked the German team to take a look at it and see if they can expand on that point to make it clearer.

As for the fact that there aren't any tables showing the declension of kleiner "smaller": we unfortunately aren't able to provide tables for every adjective (or comparative adjective) that comes up in the course, but we do understand that learning how to work with adjective endings can be complicated! This is why we use bolding in the example adjective tables: it makes the endings easier to see and swap onto any other adjective. For example, if the table says der alte and you want to use the comparative adjective kleiner "smaller" instead of alt "old," you can keep the bolded ending from the table and apply it to the new adjective, creating der kleinere. (I hope that this makes sense - and if I've misunderstood the problem you're having here, just let me know!)

Grammar in general can get quite tricky and we try to keep things clear, approachable, and understandable for everyone in all of our courses - so it's good for us to hear about parts that aren't coming across clearly! We're always here to help out here on the forums and to improve the lessons as necessary, so please don't hesitate to ask when you're having trouble.

I'll pass your comment about the use of the dative der Stadt on to the German team as well to look into.

I hope that this is helpful!

Viele Grüße

Liss

Personally, I think if you really want to learn German, you need a German grammar book. The course can't provide enough explanation if you want to understand how it all works.

The one I have is “easy learning German Grammar” from Collins. It has all you need to get to the end of level 3.

There are two versions, one without vocabulary and one with vocabulary which costs double the one without.

I have the version without vocabulary and I have found it very helpful, but there are plenty of other grammar books if you prefer.

Hi Simon 

Thanks. Do use books just find the grammar on Rocket overwhelming. I just need to chill and just use it as a general vocabulary builder. And general understanding. Have found some very good YouTube ones and just need to do those for a better understanding. Was watching one on Accusative and it wasn't this airy fairy stab at grammar. Just grumpy about it. 

Keep well 

Sharon 

Hi Maxi

If you like YouTube videos, the Lingoni channel has a lot of good free material from A1 onwards.

Simon

Me again Simon

Found a good one for grammar as well as vocabulary and revision. “Learn German grammar”. No frills, just concepts. i am a knitter, so when I am knitting something that doesn't require my concentration, I listen to language podcasts. I use Coffee Break extensively for that. In summer when weeding, I listen to podcasts too. I'm afraid I get bored if not doing more than one thing at a time, so like to engage my hands and my brain. With Rocket I sit and do only that.

Have added Spanish on Rocket and using Babbel for several others. 

Babbel offered me an amazing deal for a year for all their languages. Not as good as Rocket, but gives me a good revision and new vocabulary.

Enjoy your weekend

Sharon