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L'acidité va en diminuant, pourtant le fromage reste fort.

L'acidité va en diminuant, pourtant le fromage reste fort.
The acidity keeps decreasing, yet the cheese remains strong.
From Lesson 391:Progressive change (aller en + gérondif)·French

Questions & Answers about L'acidité va en diminuant, pourtant le fromage reste fort.

How does va en diminuant express progressive change here?
The structure aller combined with en and a present participle (the gérondif) shows that an action is happening gradually or continuously. Here, va en diminuant means the acidity is decreasing little by little, or keeps decreasing.
Why do we need the word en before diminuant?
The word en combined with a present participle forms the gérondif in French. When using the verb aller to express a progressive change, you must use the full gérondif structure (en diminuant), rather than just the present participle on its own.
Could I just say continue de diminuer instead of va en diminuant?
You could, but it changes the nuance slightly. continue de diminuer simply means continues to decrease, whereas va en diminuant specifically highlights the gradual, step-by-step progression of the change over time.
Why doesn't fort have an 'e' at the end?
Because fort is acting as an adjective describing le fromage, which is masculine singular. If the noun were feminine, such as la saveur (the flavor), you would add an 'e' to make it agree, resulting in reste forte.

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