Breakdown of Der neue Wagen ist genauso teuer wie der alte.
sein
to be
teuer
expensive
alt
old
neu
new
wie
as (in comparisons)
der Wagen
the car (formal, vehicle)
genauso
just as, exactly the same
Questions & Answers about Der neue Wagen ist genauso teuer wie der alte.
The current lesson is about wie clauses with a verb at the end. Why doesn't wie der alte have a verb?
In this sentence, wie compares two noun phrases directly rather than introducing a full subordinate clause. If you wanted to use the structure from this lesson, you would include a conjugated verb at the very end, such as ..., wie der alte war (as the old one was).
Why is it der alte and not der alter if it translates to "the old one"?
Even though alte stands alone here, it still follows the standard weak adjective declension because the definite article der is right in front of it. The noun Wagen is dropped to avoid repetition, but the grammar acts as if it is still there: der alte Wagen. The masculine nominative ending after der is just -e.
Can I just say so teuer wie instead of genauso teuer wie?
Yes, you can. So teuer wie simply means "as expensive as." Adding genau (exactly) to make genauso adds emphasis, translating perfectly to "just as expensive as" or "exactly as expensive as."
Why use Wagen here instead of Auto?
Both words mean "car," but Wagen is slightly more formal and frequently used in written German or by car dealerships. Auto is perfectly fine to use instead, but you would need to adjust the articles to match its neuter gender: Das neue Auto ist genauso teuer wie das alte.
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