Word
Mein Zimmer ist klein, aber seins ist viel größer.
Meaning
My room is small, but his is much bigger.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Mein Zimmer ist klein, aber seins ist viel größer.
sein
to be
groß
big / tall
klein
small
aber
but
Questions & Answers about Mein Zimmer ist klein, aber seins ist viel größer.
Why does it say seins instead of just sein?
sein (his) is used when the noun is still there, like sein Zimmer (his room). But here, "his" replaces the noun entirely. When a possessive word stands alone to replace a neuter noun, it needs an -s or -es ending, becoming seins (or seines).
What exactly determines that -s ending on seins?
The pronoun has to match the gender and role of the noun it replaces. It replaces das Zimmer (neuter) and acts as the subject of the second half of the sentence (nominative case). The neuter nominative ending for a stand-alone possessive pronoun is -s.
Why doesn't Mein at the beginning of the sentence have an -s ending too?
Because Mein is followed immediately by the noun Zimmer. When a possessive word comes directly before a neuter subject, it doesn't get an ending. If you removed the noun and just said "Mine is small", it would take the stand-alone ending and become Meins ist klein.
Why do we use viel here instead of sehr before größer?
Just like in English, you say "much bigger", not "very bigger". In German, when you want to emphasize a comparative word like größer (bigger), you must use viel (much) instead of sehr (very).