Breakdown of Ein grausamerer Schurke hat oft eine größere Schwäche.
ein
a, an (eine)
groß
big / tall
oft
often
haben
to have
grausam
cruel
der Schurke
the villain
die Schwäche
the weakness
Questions & Answers about Ein grausamerer Schurke hat oft eine größere Schwäche.
Why does grausamerer end in -erer?
It has two different -er endings attached to the base adjective grausam. The first -er forms the comparative, meaning crueler. The second -er is the strong adjective ending for a masculine noun in the nominative case (Schurke) following the indefinite article ein.
How do we get größere from the base word groß?
To make the comparative form of groß, we add an umlaut and -er, making it größer. Then, we add an -e because it is an attributive adjective describing a feminine noun in the accusative case (Schwäche) following the article eine.
If I wanted to use the definite article and say the crueler villain, how would the adjective change?
It would become der grausamere Schurke. After the definite article der, the adjective takes the weak ending -e in the nominative case. You attach this -e directly to the comparative form grausamer.
I remember that Schurke is a weak noun (N-declension). Why doesn't it have an -n at the end here?
Weak masculine nouns add an -n or -en ending in the accusative, dative, and genitive cases. Because ein grausamerer Schurke is the subject of the sentence, it is in the nominative case, so the noun simply keeps its base form.
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