Breakdown of Je öfter er kämpft, desto größere Stärken entwickelt er.
er
he
groß
big / tall
oft
often
entwickeln
to develop
Questions & Answers about Je öfter er kämpft, desto größere Stärken entwickelt er.
Why is the comparative größere here instead of just größer?
It modifies the noun Stärken directly, so it needs an adjective ending. First, we take the comparative form of groß, which is größer. Then, because Stärken is plural accusative and has no article in front of it (strong declension), we add the ending -e to get größere.
Why doesn't öfter get a declension ending like größere does?
Here, öfter (more often) is acting as an adverb describing the verb kämpft. Adverbs do not take declension endings in German. größere, on the other hand, is an attributive adjective describing a noun (Stärken), so it must take an ending.
Why is the word order entwickelt er instead of er entwickelt in the second half?
The structure je ..., desto ... means 'the ..., the ...'. The je part is a subordinate clause with the verb at the end (kämpft). The desto part acts as the main clause. The phrase desto größere Stärken takes up the entire first position of that main clause. Since the conjugated verb must always come second in a German main clause, entwickelt jumps right in front of the subject er.
Could I use umso instead of desto in this sentence?