Breakdown of Ist die Straßenbahn direkter als die U-Bahn?
sein
to be
die U-Bahn
the subway
als
than
die Straßenbahn
the tram
Questions & Answers about Ist die Straßenbahn direkter als die U-Bahn?
In English we say "more direct". Why does German use direkter instead of a word for "more"?
In English, longer adjectives usually take "more" (more direct, more beautiful). In German, almost all regular adjectives just add -er to the end to make the comparative, regardless of how long the word is. So direkt simply becomes direkter.
Why doesn't direkter have an extra adjective ending like direktere?
Because it is acting as a predicate adjective, meaning it comes after the verb (ist) to describe the noun, rather than sitting directly in front of the noun itself. When an adjective or its comparative form stands alone like this, it does not take any extra grammatical endings.
Why do we use als here for "than" instead of wie?
When comparing two things that are different (for example, one is more direct than the other), you always use als for "than". You only use wie when two things are exactly equal, like in the phrase so direkt wie (as direct as).
What exactly are the Straßenbahn and U-Bahn in German public transport?
Die Straßenbahn is a tram or streetcar that runs on rails on the street level. Die U-Bahn (short for Untergrundbahn) is the subway or underground train system.