why is it 'Solcher' in this sentence? (solcher Vokabeln)

Question

I was studying a video and found a sentence in which I can't exactly understand the usage of a word. Please see https://www.youtube.com/clip/UgkxUQmBaSq-zu67J5XPfT-sGJxCTnPkPMSa.
Because the word 'Vokabeln' is plural, shouldn't it be 'solche' instead of 'solcher'?
ADD :
The German text is :
"Und um noch mehr solcher Vokabeln und Sätze zu lernen" ...
and the transcript reads
"And in order to learn more vocabulary and sentences like this" ..

Could you provide a transcript of the relevant sentence from the video? — O. R. Mapper, Dec 10 '23 at 12:42
@c.p. Yeah, I know but here Vokabeln is the target word of lernen, so it should be akk. but it has the form of dative. Maybe an error.. — Chan Kim, Dec 10 '23 at 14:40
Vokabeln is not in fact the target word of lernen here. Mehr is. — Tilman Schmidt, Dec 10 '23 at 18:27

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 10 '23 at 18:25

5

The word viel and its comparative form mehr can be used with Genitiv (or with the preposition von) if referring to a selection from a whole.

In the video, solcher Vokabeln und Sätze is Genitiv of solche Vokabeln und Sätze, expressing that there is an entirety of such words and phrases of which the speaker invites you to learn a bigger part than you already have.

Other examples can be be found in the language of politicians (Viele unserer Mitbürger fragen sich zu Recht ...) or newspapers (Die meisten der etwa 3000 Anwesenden ...).

The wording noch mehr solche Vokabeln und Sätze (Akkusativ) is also correct and equally common.

answered Dec 10 '23 at 18:25

Tilman Schmidt

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This is not an isolated case; see https://www.dwds.de/r/?corpus=untertitel&q=mehr%20%40solcher and related searches. So it seems "viel/mehr" + genitive is indeed possible and frequently used. Inserting "of" after "many/more" is common in English as well, and the phrasing "And in order to learn more of such vocabulary and sentences ..." sounds correct to my ears. I have not been able to find any documentation for this though; neither Wiktionary or DWDS mention it. – RDBury Dec 10 '23 at 18:42
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PS. I found documentation in German Wiktionary in the entry for "viel"; for some reason it was under etymology: "Es wird daher im Sinne von große Menge unflektiert als Substantiv gebraucht (viel hilft viel) und kann dabei einen abhängigen Genitiv bei sich haben (viel Aufhebens)." Also, one possible translation of "viel/mehr" is "a lot (more)" (though I think of this as somewhat colloquial). In this case inserting "of" is required. – RDBury Dec 10 '23 at 18:53
Wow, that was it! I feel like I moved one step forward. Thanks! – Chan Kim Dec 11 '23 at 07:45
Genitivus partitivus. Aber genug des schlaumeierischen Lateins! – Peter - Reinstate Monica Dec 11 '23 at 17:06

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 10 '23 at 18:25

You are right that the entire phrase “mehr solcher Vokabeln” is in the accusative case. However, in that phrase the part “solcher Vokabeln” is in the genitive case. You can think of it as “more of such vocabulary words” (without the claim that this proper English, just to illustrate the structure).

Now “mehr solche Vokabeln” is also possible, and I cannot tell you which form would be preferable, more “correct”, or more common. This is why I hesitated to answer.

+1 for clear answer. (I chose Tilman's answer because it was faster :) ). Thank you! — Chan Kim, Dec 11 '23 at 07:45

why is it 'Solcher' in this sentence? (solcher Vokabeln)

2 Answers2