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To express that two things change in proportion to each other—like saying "the older, the wiser"—German uses the two-part structure **je ... desto** with comparative adjectives.

### The basic structure

The first half of the comparison starts with **je** followed by a comparative adjective (like *älter* or *mehr*). This part acts as a subordinate clause, meaning the conjugated verb is pushed to the very end.

The second half begins with **desto** and another comparative adjective. This chunk occupies the first position of the main clause, which means the conjugated verb must come immediately after it, followed by the subject.

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### Using "umso"

Instead of **desto**, you can also use **umso** for the second half of the comparison. It means exactly the same thing and follows the exact same word order rules.

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### Time and temperament

When talking about gaining patience or getting calmer as time passes, you will often use verbs like *vergehen* (to pass) and adjectives like *gelassen* (calm).

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### Nouns in comparisons

If your comparative involves a noun, such as *mehr Geduld* (more patience), keep the noun tightly attached to the comparative word at the beginning of the clause.

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### Life stages

This proportional structure is perfectly suited for talking about getting older or becoming a grown-up (*erwachsen*).

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Proportional comparisons (je ... desto)

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (der, die, das)

Indefinite articles (ein, eine)

Regular verbs and statement word order (ich -e, er -t)

The second person (du -st, Sie -en)

Yes/No questions

The verb 'to have' (habe, hast, hat)

Plural pronouns and regular verbs (wir, ihr, sie)

Plural 'to be' and 'to have' (sind, haben)

Plural nouns and the plural article (die)

Sentence negation (nicht)

Noun negation (kein, keine)

Question words (wer, was, wo, wie)

Numbers 0 to 12 (null, eins, zwei)

The accusative case (den, die, das)

Indefinite accusative articles (einen, keinen)

Direct object pronouns (mich, dich, ihn)

There is / there are (es gibt)

Vowel changes: e to i/ie (er spricht, sie liest)

Vowel changes: a to ä (er fährt)

Weather and conditions (es regnet)

First- and second-person possessives in the nominative (mein, dein, Ihr)

First- and second-person possessives in the accusative (meinen, deinen, Ihren)

Third-person and plural possessives (sein, ihr, unser, euer)

Possession with names (Annas Auto)

Demonstrative pronouns (dieser, diese, dieses)

Expressing preference (gern, lieber)

Asking about direction and origin (woher, wohin)

Expressing ability (können)

Polite requests (möchten)

Expressing intention (wollen)

Modal verbs of obligation and permission (müssen, dürfen)

Separable prefix verbs

Adverbs of frequency (immer, oft, manchmal, nie)

The Dative case and definite articles (dem, der, den)

Dative indefinite and negative articles (einem, einer, keinem)

Dative personal pronouns (mir, dir, ihm, ihr...)

Dative verbs (helfen, danken, gefallen, schmecken)

Dative prepositions (aus, bei, mit, nach...)

Accusative prepositions (für, ohne, gegen)

Two-way prepositions for location (in, an, auf...)

Informal singular imperative (mach, komm)

Plural and formal imperative (macht, machen Sie)

Coordinating conjunctions (und, oder, aber, denn)

Simple past of sein and haben (war, hatte)

The perfect tense: regular verbs (gemacht, gespielt)

Past tense: irregular verbs (ge-...-en)

The perfect tense: mixed verbs (gebracht, gekannt)

The perfect tense with sein (ist gegangen)

The perfect tense: separable verbs (eingekauft)

The perfect tense: inseparable and -ieren verbs (besucht, studiert)

Informal singular commands (mach, lern)

Numbers 13 to 20 (dreizehn to zwanzig)

Counting by tens to 100 (dreißig, vierzig)

Telling time (Uhr, halb, Viertel, vor, nach)

Numbers 21 to 99 (einundzwanzig, zweiunddreißig)

Greetings and farewells

Thank you, sorry and good wishes

Everyday replies

Numbers 100 to 1,000,000 (hundert, tausend...)

Becoming and getting (werden)

The impersonal pronoun (man)

Indefinite pronouns (jemand, niemand...)

Time sequence prepositions (vor, nach, bei)

Time span prepositions (von... bis, seit, für)

Adverbs of sequence (zuerst, dann, danach)

Two-way prepositions for direction (in, auf, an...)

Directional adverbs (hin, her)

Placement verbs (setzen, stellen, legen)

Months of the year (Januar, Februar)

The four seasons (Frühling, Sommer)

Time prepositions and indefinite pronouns (an, in, um)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 19th (am ersten)

Ordinals 20th and beyond (-ste, -sten)

Placement vs. location verbs (stellen vs. stehen)

Accusative reflexive pronouns (mich, dich, sich)

Accusative reflexive verbs (sich freuen)

Dative reflexive pronouns (mir, dir, sich)

Dative reflexive verbs (sich etwas merken)

Ordinal numbers 11th to 19th (-te)

Temporal prepositions (an, in, um)

Double objects with nouns

Double objects with pronouns

The modal verb for advice (sollen)

Simple past of modal verbs (musste, wollte...)

Simple past of common irregulars (wurde, wusste, es gab)

Adverbial connectors of consequence (deshalb, darum...)

Subordinate clauses for statements (dass)

Question	Answer
the (in proportional comparisons)	je
the (second part of proportional comparisons)	desto
wise	weise
The older one becomes, the wiser one is.	Je älter man wird, desto weiser ist man.
the (alternative second part)	umso
patient	geduldig
The older we become, the more patient we are.	Je älter wir werden, umso geduldiger sind wir.
to pass (time)	vergehen
The more time passes, the quieter I am.	Je mehr Zeit vergeht, desto ruhiger bin ich.
calm	gelassen
The calmer I am, the less I get upset.	Je gelassener ich bin, desto weniger rege ich mich auf.
clever	klug
The older the child gets, the cleverer it is.	Je älter das Kind wird, umso klüger ist es.
the patience	die Geduld
The more patience you have, the better you speak.	Je mehr Geduld du hast, desto besser sprichst du.
The faster the years pass, the older we look.	Je schneller die Jahre vergehen, umso älter sehen wir aus.
The older the man is, the more patient he becomes.	Je älter der Mann ist, desto geduldiger wird er.
grown-up	erwachsen
The more grown-up she is, the more she looks forward to the weekend.	Je erwachsener sie ist, desto mehr freut sie sich auf das Wochenende.
The older the dog gets, the calmer he is.	Je älter der Hund wird, umso gelassener ist er.
The wiser one becomes, the better one understands everything.	Je weiser man wird, desto besser versteht man alles.
The more grown-up we become, the quieter we are.	Je erwachsener wir werden, desto ruhiger sind wir.
The more patience one has, the happier one is.	Je mehr Geduld man hat, umso glücklicher ist man.
The cleverer the woman is, the faster she learns.	Je klüger die Frau ist, desto schneller lernt sie.
the ... the (proportional)	je ... desto
The longer I learn, the better my German gets.	Je länger ich lerne, desto besser wird mein Deutsch.
The more you practise, the easier it gets.	Je mehr du übst, desto einfacher wird es.
to compare	vergleichen
We are comparing the prices.	Wir vergleichen die Preise.
You cannot compare the two apartments.	Man kann die beiden Wohnungen nicht vergleichen.

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