Tandem Progression with i takt med att
To describe two things developing simultaneously—like a growing city and its infrastructure—use the temporal conjunction i takt med att ("as" or "at the same pace as").
| The capacity of the treatment plant increased as the population grew. | Kapaciteten på reningsverket ökade i takt med att befolkningen växte. |
Because i takt med att introduces a subordinate clause, applying the V2 (verb-second) rule is crucial when it starts a sentence. If the subordinate clause comes first, the following main clause must immediately start with its verb:
| As the city grew, they expanded the sewer. | I takt med att staden växte, byggde man ut avloppet. |
Urban Infrastructure
Discussing these systems involves specific vocabulary for underground (underjordisk) work, pumping (pumpa), and purifying (rena) wastewater (avloppsvattnet) through pipes (röret).
| We must increase the capacity to pump the wastewater. | Vi måste öka kapaciteten för att pumpa avloppsvattnet. |
| An underground pipe leads to the new sewer. | Ett underjordiskt rör leder till det nya avloppet. |
Negation and Continuous Expansion
Remember the BIFF rule for subordinate clauses: sentence adverbs like inte (not) must be placed before the finite verb. Notice how inte sits directly before renade:
| The problem grew as we did not purify the wastewater. | Problemet växte i takt med att vi inte renade avloppsvattnet. |
When discussing continuous expansion (utbyggnaden), always apply the V2 rule when leading with i takt med att. The main clause verb (fortsätter) immediately follows the comma here:
| As the city grows, the expansion of the water treatment plant continues. | I takt med att staden växer fortsätter utbyggnaden av reningsverket. |