Det blir värre när jag inte sover.

I

Breakdown of Det blir värre när jag inte sover.

• när: when
• det: it
• inte: not

Questions & Answers about Det blir värre när jag inte sover.

Why does the sentence start with det? What does det refer to?

In this sentence, det is a dummy subject. It does not point to a specific thing like it often does in English.

Swedish often uses det in general statements such as:

• Det är kallt. = It is cold.
• Det blir svårt. = It becomes difficult.

So in Det blir värre, det means something like it in English it gets worse. The exact thing that gets worse is understood from context.

Why is it blir and not är?

Blir is the present tense of bli, which means become, get, or sometimes turn.

So:

• Det är värre = It is worse.
• Det blir värre = It gets worse / It becomes worse.

This sentence focuses on a change of state: things become worse when the speaker does not sleep.

What form is värre?