Breakdown of Der Autor zieht einen Vergleich zwischen beiden Ländern.
zwischen
between
das Land
the country
der Autor
the author
beide
both
einen Vergleich ziehen
to draw a comparison
Questions & Answers about Der Autor zieht einen Vergleich zwischen beiden Ländern.
Is einen Vergleich ziehen a standard phrase, just like "drawing a comparison" in English?
Yes! It translates perfectly. Just like in English, you "pull" or "draw" (ziehen) a comparison. Another common verb used with Vergleich is anstellen (einen Vergleich anstellen - to make a comparison).
zwischen is a two-way preposition. Why does it take the dative beiden Ländern here instead of the accusative?
Two-way prepositions take the dative when describing a static state or location (answering "where?"), and the accusative for action directed at a goal ("where to?"). A comparison exists statically between the countries, with no physical movement directed into them, so you must use the dative case.
Why use beiden here instead of just saying zwei Ländern?
While zwischen zwei Ländern (between two countries) is completely correct, beiden implies "the two" or "both". It signals that the specific two countries being compared have already been mentioned in the context. Notice that beiden takes the dative plural -en adjective ending here.
This lesson focuses on als comparative clauses. How would an als clause look if we described the comparison itself?
You would use an als clause to express the actual difference between the countries. For example: Er schreibt, dass das erste Land wärmer ist, als er dachte. (He writes that the first country is warmer than he thought.) Remember that als acts as a subordinating conjunction in these comparisons, kicking the conjugated verb (dachte) to the end of its clause.
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