Question 1

Why is höher used instead of mehr here?

Accepted Answer

In German, mehr is used with nouns to mean “more of something” (e.g. mehr Zeit, mehr Wasser), but when you compare levels or degrees you form the comparative of the adjective itself. So you take hoch, add -er → höher, and connect it with als for “than”: höher als gestern. With fever we naturally talk about how “high” it is (ein hohes Fieber), not how much fever (mehr Fieber).

Question 2

How do you form comparatives in German, and why do we use als and not wie here?

Accepted Answer

To form a comparative:  
 • Take the adjective stem (z. B. hoch)  
 • Add -er (→ höher)  
 • If possible, insert an umlaut (alt → älter, groß → größer)  
 • Connect with als to express “than”: höher als

You use wie only for equative comparisons (“as… as”):  
 • so hoch wie gestern (“as high as yesterday”)

Saying höher wie is colloquial or dialectal; standard German uses als.

Question 3

What’s the role of gestern here, and why is there no article?

Accepted Answer

gestern is an adverb of time (“yesterday”). Adverbs are not declined and don’t take articles. Here, als gestern simply means “than yesterday.”

Question 4

Why does deshalb cause the verb to come before the subject in deshalb bleibe ich?

Accepted Answer

deshalb is a sentence adverb (a conjunctive adverb meaning “therefore”). In a main clause, anything you put in first position forces the finite verb into second position—so the subject follows the verb:  
  deshalb bleibe ich …

You could also say ich bleibe deshalb zu Hause (subject first, adverb second), but starting with deshalb (Vorfeld) emphasizes the causal link.

Question 5

What’s the difference between deshalb, darum, daher, and deswegen?

Accepted Answer

All four express cause (“therefore,” “that’s why”) and behave the same way in terms of word order. Differences are minimal:  
 • deshalb/deswegen: very common in speech and writing  
 • darum/daher: equally common; daher can also mean “from there” spatially

You can swap them without changing the core meaning:  
  Ich hatte Fieber, deshalb bleibe ich zu Hause.  
  Ich hatte Fieber, deswegen/darum/daher bleibe ich zu Hause.

Question 6

Why do we say bleibe ich zu Hause and not bleibe ich nach Hause or in meinem Haus?

Accepted Answer

• bleiben is a static verb (“to stay”), so you use zu Hause (“at home”).  
• nach Hause indicates motion toward home (used with gehen, fahren, kommen).  
• in meinem Haus is technically correct but sounds more literal/architectural. The idiomatic expression is zu Hause.

Question 7

Can we write zuhause as one word?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Both zu Hause and zuhause are accepted for the adverbial meaning “at home.” The two-word form highlights the noun Haus, while the one-word form is slightly more adverb-like. In formal contexts you’ll often see zu Hause.

Question 8

In Mein Fieber, why doesn’t mein have an ending?

Accepted Answer

mein is a possessive determiner that declines like ein. In the nominative case:  
 • Masculine and neuter nouns take no ending: mein Hund, mein Haus, Mein Fieber  
 • Feminine and plural nouns get -e: meine Katze, meine Bücher

Mein Fieber ist heute höher als gestern, deshalb bleibe ich zu Hause.

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