Breakdown of Мы покупаем всё меньше сахара. К тому же наш рацион стал сбалансированным.
мы
we
наш
our
покупать
to buy
сахар
sugar
стать
to become
меньше
less (quantity or size)
всё
increasingly / more and more
сбалансированный
balanced
рацион
diet (regular food intake / ration)
к тому же
besides, moreover
Questions & Answers about Мы покупаем всё меньше сахара. К тому же наш рацион стал сбалансированным.
How exactly does к тому же function here, and is it different from кроме того?
Both mean "besides" or "in addition," but к тому же is specifically used to add a reinforcing point that makes your overall argument stronger. Here, the overarching idea is that they are getting healthier. First, they buy less sugar, and on top of that, the whole diet is balanced. It also sounds a bit more conversational than the slightly more formal кроме того.
Why is всё used before меньше?
When you place всё directly before a comparative word, it indicates an ongoing, progressive change. While English repeats the comparative to show this ("less and less"), Russian just uses всё + comparative. So всё меньше means "less and less." You will see this pattern often, such as in всё лучше (better and better) or всё чаще (more and more often).
Why is the word for sugar in the genitive case (сахара)?
It takes the genitive case because it follows a word expressing quantity. Just like you use the genitive after numbers or words like много (a lot), you must also use the genitive after comparatives of quantity like меньше (less) and больше (more).
Why does the adjective сбалансированным end in -ым here?
It is in the instrumental case because of the verb стал (became). When using verbs that show a change of state or identity, such as стать (to become), the noun or adjective that describes that new state must take the instrumental case.
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