Breakdown of Dieser Mantel ist sehr schön.
sein
to be
schön
beautiful
sehr
very
dieser
this / that (fem.: diese, neut.: dieses)
Questions & Answers about Dieser Mantel ist sehr schön.
Why is the word for 'this' spelled as dieser here instead of diese or dieses?
The word dieser changes its ending based on the gender of the noun it points to. Because Mantel is a masculine noun (der Mantel) and is the subject of the sentence, we use the masculine ending -er to make dieser.
How is dieser Mantel different from just saying der Mantel?
While der Mantel usually means the coat, dieser Mantel specifically means this coat. You use dieser when you want to strongly point out a specific item, usually one that is close to you.
If I am already holding the coat and my friend knows what I am talking about, can I leave out the word Mantel?
Yes! If the context is obvious, you can drop the noun. You can say Dieser ist sehr schön (This one is very beautiful) or even use the shorter pronoun: Der ist sehr schön (That one is very beautiful).
Why doesn't the adjective schön have a masculine ending here to match dieser?
In German, adjectives only get extra endings when they are placed directly before a noun. Because schön comes after the verb ist, it is just describing the subject from across the sentence. In this position, adjectives always stay in their basic dictionary form.