Word
Der Streit wurde immer schlimmer.
Meaning
The argument got worse and worse.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Der Streit wurde immer schlimmer.
immer
always
werden
to become / to get (change of state)
schlimm
bad / awful (severe)
der Streit
the argument, fight
Questions & Answers about Der Streit wurde immer schlimmer.
Why does the German sentence use immer schlimmer instead of repeating the word like in English?
In German, you do not repeat the comparative adjective to express that something is continuously increasing. Instead, you use the word immer followed by a single comparative adjective. So, immer schlimmer translates directly to the English structure 'worse and worse'.
Could I use schlechter instead of schlimmer here?
It would sound unnatural. While both can translate to 'worse', schlimm is used for things that are severe, serious, or distressing, such as an argument, an injury, or a mistake. schlecht is generally used for poor quality, like bad weather, bad food, or a bad movie. Because an argument increases in severity, schlimmer is the correct choice here.
Is wurde being used to form the passive voice in this sentence?
No, wurde is acting as the main verb here. It is the simple past tense of werden, which means 'to become' or 'to get' when describing a change of state. While werden is also used as a helper verb to build the passive voice, in this specific sentence it simply means the argument got or became worse.