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The je...desto conjunction in German

1 Meaning of je...desto
2 Grammar of "je ... desto"
3 je..umso

Meaning of je...desto

je..desto means "the ... the ...".

You can see better the meaning with an example:

Je früher man kauft, desto billiger ist das
The earlier you buy, the cheaper it is

Grammar of "je ... desto"

je...desto is a compound conjunction that forms a main clause and a subordinate one. The main clause contains desto and the subordinate one je.

It is constructed with the typical structure: Main Clause (desto) + Subordinate Clause (je):

je + comparative adjective + (optional clause with verb at end), desto + comparative adjective + (optional: conjugated verb) + (optional: rest of clause)

Example:

Je weniger es gibt ,desto größer wird der Preis sein
The less there is, the higher the price will be.

je..umso

Another equivalent form is je...umso which means the same thing but is used less often:

je weniger es gibt, umso größer wird der Preis sein
The less there is, the higher the price will be

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