Der Delfin ist weitaus intelligenter als der Bär.
The dolphin is much more intelligent than the bear.
Breakdown of Der Delfin ist weitaus intelligenter als der Bär.
sein
to be
als
than
der Bär
the bear
intelligent
intelligent
der Delfin
the dolphin
weitaus
much (by far, with comparatives)
Questions & Answers about Der Delfin ist weitaus intelligenter als der Bär.
Can I use sehr instead of weitaus to say the dolphin is much more intelligent?
No, you cannot use sehr with comparative adjectives in German. Just as English uses the word much rather than very before a comparative, German uses degree adverbs like weitaus, wesentlich, or viel. Here, weitaus strongly intensifies the comparison.
Could I replace weitaus with bei weitem or wesentlich in this sentence?
Yes, absolutely. The degree adverbs weitaus, wesentlich, bedeutend, and bei weitem are largely interchangeable when intensifying a comparative. They all elevate the sentence to mean the dolphin is not just more intelligent, but significantly so.
Why is it als der Bär in the nominative case, rather than using the accusative?
The conjunction als requires the noun that follows it to match the case of the noun it is being compared to. Because the dolphin (Der Delfin) is the subject of the sentence and in the nominative case, the bear must also be in the nominative. If it were accusative, it would be als den Bären because Bär is a weak noun that takes an -en ending in other cases.
Why is Delfin spelled with an f instead of ph?
Following the German spelling reform, many words of Greek origin that were previously spelled with ph were simplified to f to match their pronunciation. While the older spelling is sometimes still seen in older texts, Delfin is the standard and recommended spelling today.
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