Breakdown of Hoe groter de oppervlakte is, des te hoger is de prijs.
zijn
to be
groot
big
hoe
how
hoog
high / tall
de prijs
the price
de oppervlakte
the surface area
des te
the (proportion)
Questions & Answers about Hoe groter de oppervlakte is, des te hoger is de prijs.
How does the hoe ..., des te ... structure work here?
It translates to 'the [more]..., the [more]...' in English. You pair hoe with a comparative adjective (groter) in the first half, and des te with a comparative adjective (hoger) in the second half to show that as one thing increases, so does the other.
Why is the word order different in the two halves of the sentence?
The hoe part acts as a dependent clause, which pushes its verb to the very end: Hoe groter de oppervlakte is. The des te part acts as a main clause. Because it starts with the phrase des te hoger, the verb and subject must swap places (inversion), resulting in ... is de prijs.
Could I leave out the verbs entirely?
Yes! Just like in English ('The bigger the area, the higher the price'), it is very common and perfectly natural in Dutch to drop the verbs in these phrases when they are simple forms of zijn (to be). You will often hear: Hoe groter de oppervlakte, des te hoger de prijs.
How do I know that oppervlakte takes de?
It is a helpful rule of thumb that almost all Dutch nouns ending in -te take de. These words often describe a measurement or a physical quality, such as de lengte (the length), de breedte (the width), and de oppervlakte (the surface area).
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