Breakdown of Je erwachsener sie ist, desto mehr freut sie sich auf das Wochenende.
sein
to be
sie
she
das Wochenende
the weekend
mehr
more
sich freuen auf
to look forward to (with auf)
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
je
the (in proportional comparisons)
desto
the (second part of proportional comparisons)
erwachsen
grown-up
Questions & Answers about Je erwachsener sie ist, desto mehr freut sie sich auf das Wochenende.
Why does the verb ist go at the end of the first part, but freut comes right after desto mehr?
The word je acts like a subordinating conjunction, which kicks the verb ist to the end of the clause. In the second part, the phrase desto mehr takes up the first position of a main clause. Because German main clauses have the verb in the second position, the verb freut must come right after it, followed by the subject sie.
Could I use umso in this sentence instead of desto?
Yes, umso and desto are completely interchangeable in this structure. You could say ..., umso mehr freut sie sich... and the meaning and word order would remain exactly the same.
Is erwachsener a comparative adjective even though it does not use a word like 'more'?
Exactly! Unlike English, which often uses 'more' for longer words (like 'more grown-up'), German almost always forms the comparative by simply adding -er to the end of the adjective, no matter how long the word is. So erwachsen becomes erwachsener.
What is the purpose of sich and auf in the second half of the sentence?
They belong to the reflexive verb sich freuen auf, which means 'to look forward to' an upcoming event. If you used über instead of auf, it would mean she is currently happy about something that is already happening.
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