When describing how two things change in relation to each other—like "the cheaper, the better"—Dutch uses the correlative structure hoe ... hoe.
In a hoe ... hoe sentence, both halves act as dependent clauses. This means the conjugated verb is pushed to the end of each clause: Hoe + comparative + subject + ... + verb, hoe + comparative + subject + ... + verb.
| The cheaper the share is, the more profitable the company seems. | Hoe goedkoper het aandeel is, hoe winstgevender het bedrijf lijkt. |
You can pair hoe with comparative adjectives (like goedkoper), or use meer (more) and minder (less).
| The more the share falls, the more the investor buys. | Hoe meer het aandeel daalt, hoe meer de belegger koopt. |
Describing market trends
This structure is useful for talking about trends in economics (de economie) and the stock market (de beurs), where an investor (de belegger) analyzes how shifting factors like inflation (de inflatie) or scarcity impact profit and risk.
| The faster inflation rises, the riskier the project becomes. | Hoe sneller de inflatie stijgt, hoe risicovoller het project wordt. |
| The scarcer the material is, the more profitable the worldwide trade becomes. | Hoe schaarser het materiaal is, hoe winstgevender de wereldwijde handel wordt. |
| The faster the economy grows, the less scarce the material becomes. | Hoe sneller de economie groeit, hoe minder schaars het materiaal wordt. |
Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io