Breakdown of Je reicher der Nachbar wird, desto neidischer sind die Leute auf ihn.
sein
to be
die Leute
the people
ihn
him
der Nachbar
the neighbor (male)
auf
on / to (down/up to a level)
werden
to become / to get (change of state)
reich
rich
je
the (in proportional comparisons)
desto
the (second part of proportional comparisons)
neidisch
envious
Questions & Answers about Je reicher der Nachbar wird, desto neidischer sind die Leute auf ihn.
Why do we use auf ihn to say "of him"?
The adjective neidisch (envious) pairs with the fixed preposition auf when you want to mention who or what someone is envious of. While English says envious "of", German uses auf. With neidisch, the preposition auf always requires the accusative case, which is why we use the accusative pronoun ihn.
Why does the verb order change between the two halves of the sentence?
This sentence uses the je ..., desto ... (the [more]..., the [more]...) structure, which has a tricky word order. The first half with je acts like a subordinate clause, pushing the conjugated verb (wird) to the very end. The second half with desto acts like a main clause. The phrase desto neidischer takes up the first position, so the verb (sind) must come immediately after it in position 2.
Why do reicher and neidischer end in -er here? Do they need adjective endings?
The -er here is just the comparative ending, turning reich (rich) into reicher (richer), and neidisch (envious) into neidischer (more envious). Because these adjectives are used as predicates (they follow the verbs rather than sitting directly in front of a noun), they don't take any additional grammatical adjective endings.
Can I use a different word instead of desto?
Yes! You will very often hear umso used instead of desto. You could say Je reicher der Nachbar wird, umso neidischer sind die Leute auf ihn. It means exactly the same thing and follows the exact same word order rules.
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