Breakdown of Die Maus ist nicht so stark wie der Elefant.
sein
to be
nicht
not
so
so, such (intensifier)
stark
strong
wie
as (in comparisons)
die Maus
the mouse
der Elefant
the elephant
Questions & Answers about Die Maus ist nicht so stark wie der Elefant.
Why do we use wie here instead of als?
We use wie because we are using the so ... wie (as ... as) structure. You use wie to compare things that are on the same level, or with nicht to show they are not equal in that specific way. You only use als (than) with comparative words like stärker (stronger).
Why is der Elefant in the nominative case? Doesn't it come at the end of the sentence?
In German comparisons using wie or als, the second noun takes the exact same case as the noun it is being compared to. Because die Maus is the subject of the sentence (nominative case), der Elefant must also be in the nominative case.
Why doesn't the adjective stark have an ending?
Adjectives only get endings when they are placed directly before a noun, like in die starke Maus. When an adjective comes after a verb like sein (to be) to describe the subject, it is called a predicate adjective and stays in its basic dictionary form without any endings.
How would the sentence change if we wanted to say the elephant is stronger than the mouse?
You would say Der Elefant ist stärker als die Maus. To say stronger than, you must change the adjective to its comparative form stärker and follow it with als instead of using the so ... wie structure.
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