Breakdown of Je klüger die Frau ist, desto schneller lernt sie.
sein
to be
die Frau
the woman
sie
she
lernen
to learn
schnell
fast, quickly
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
je
the (in proportional comparisons)
desto
the (second part of proportional comparisons)
klug
clever
Questions & Answers about Je klüger die Frau ist, desto schneller lernt sie.
Why does the verb 'ist' go at the end of the first half, but 'lernt' comes right after 'desto schneller'?
The je half of the sentence is a subordinate clause, which pushes the conjugated verb (ist) to the very end. The desto half acts as a main clause. Because the phrase desto schneller takes up the entire first position, the verb (lernt) must stay in the strict second position, pushing the subject (sie) right after it.
Why does the adjective 'klug' get an umlaut in 'klüger'?
Many short, one-syllable adjectives with an a, o, or u add an umlaut when forming the comparative. So, klug (clever) becomes klüger (cleverer). Other common examples you might remember are alt turning into älter and groß turning into größer.
The lesson mentions 'umso'. Could I use that instead of 'desto' in this sentence?
Yes, absolutely! The words desto and umso mean the exact same thing in this structure and are completely interchangeable. You could perfectly well say: Je klüger die Frau ist, umso schneller lernt sie.
Is the comma mandatory between the two parts of the sentence?
Yes. Because you are connecting a subordinate clause (the je part) with a main clause (the desto part), German punctuation rules require a comma to clearly separate them.
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