Breakdown of Dieses Land ist älter als unser Land.
sein
to be
alt
old
unser
our
dieser
this / that (fem.: diese, neut.: dieses)
als
than
das Land
the country
Questions & Answers about Dieses Land ist älter als unser Land.
Why does alt change to älter with an umlaut?
Many short, one-syllable German adjectives that have an a, o, or u get an umlaut when they change into their comparative form. So alt (old) becomes älter (older). You will also see this rule with other common words, like groß becoming größer and jung becoming jünger.
Why do we use als for 'than' in this sentence?
In German, when you compare two things that are unequal (using a comparative word like älter), you must always use als to mean 'than'. You only use wie when comparing two things that are exactly equal, such as so alt wie (as old as).
Why does dieses have an -es ending, but unser has no ending?
Both words describe the neuter noun Land in the nominative case (because it is the subject of the sentence). Dieses is a 'der-word' and must always show the gender, taking the neuter -es ending. Unser, however, is an 'ein-word' (like mein or dein), which takes no ending for neuter nouns in the nominative case.
Does the comparative word älter ever need an ending?
Not in this sentence! When an adjective (even a comparative one) comes after a verb like ist and just describes the subject, it takes no ending. It would only get an ending if it were placed directly in front of a noun, like in the phrase ein älteres Land (an older country).
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