Breakdown of Ju högre efterfrågan är, desto dyrare blir varan.
vara
to be
dyr
expensive
hög
high / loudly
bli
to become
ju
as you know / of course
efterfrågan
the demand
desto
the (in proportional comparisons)
varan
the good
Questions & Answers about Ju högre efterfrågan är, desto dyrare blir varan.
Why is the word order different in the two parts of the sentence (efterfrågan är vs. blir varan)?
This is the most important rule for ju ..., desto ... sentences! The ju half acts as a subordinate clause, meaning the subject comes before the verb (efterfrågan är). The desto half is a main clause, which must follow the V2 (verb-second) rule. The phrase desto dyrare takes up the first position, so the verb blir must immediately follow it, placing it before the subject varan.
Is efterfrågan in its definite form here?
Yes, it translates to "the demand". Nouns ending in -an (like efterfrågan for demand, or början for beginning) belong to a special group of words usually derived from verbs. They don't take the standard -en or -et endings, so the word looks the same whether it means "demand" or "the demand".
Could I use dess instead of desto in this sentence?
Absolutely. Desto and dess are completely interchangeable in this structure. You can say Ju högre efterfrågan är, dess dyrare blir varan and it means exactly the same thing.
What is the base form of högre?
The base adjective is hög (high). Like several other common adjectives in Swedish, it has an irregular comparative form where the vowel changes (ö becomes ö, though it sounds slightly different in pronunciation) and it takes a -re ending instead of the regular -are.
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