Learn Spanish (Latin America): Dejamos de jugar porque estábamos cada vez más ansiosos. - We stopped playing because we were getting more and more anxious.

The phrase cada vez más literally means "each time more." When you pair it with the verb estar (to be) and an adjective like ansiosos (anxious), it naturally expresses the idea of becoming or getting more and more of that feeling over time. So, estábamos cada vez más ansiosos translates perfectly to "we were getting more and more anxious."

Why is "estábamos" in the imperfect tense here, while "dejamos" is in the preterite?

Dejamos is in the preterite because stopping the game was a single, completed action in the past. Estábamos is in the imperfect because it describes an ongoing background condition. The anxiety was building up over a period of time, leading up to the moment they finally stopped playing.

Why is the word "de" needed in "dejamos de jugar"?

To say "to stop doing something" or "to quit doing something" in Spanish, you must use the formula dejar de followed by an infinitive verb (like jugar). If you leave out the de, the verb dejar usually means "to leave" or "to let," so the meaning of the sentence would completely change.

If a group of women were saying this, would "cada vez más" change to match their gender?