Breakdown of I takt med att utbredningen ökar, blir det fina gräset förstört.
fin
nice
det
the (with ett-words)
bli
to become
gräset
the grass
förstörd
destroyed
öka
to increase
i takt med att
as / at the same pace as (concurrently)
utbredningen
the spread (extent, distribution)
Questions & Answers about I takt med att utbredningen ökar, blir det fina gräset förstört.
What exactly does i takt med att mean here?
It literally translates to 'in pace with that'. It is a common conjunction phrase used to mean 'as' or 'at the same rate that' when two things are changing simultaneously. Here, the grass is being destroyed at the same rate the spread increases.
If I wanted to add the universal spatial adverb överallt (everywhere) to say 'the spread increases everywhere', where would it go in the first clause?
Spatial adverbs like överallt tell us where an action happens, so they generally go at the end of the clause. Even though subordinate clauses often put sentence adverbs before the verb, spatial adverbs stay at the end. You would say: I takt med att utbredningen ökar överallt...
Why does the second part of the sentence start with the verb blir?
This is the V2 (verb-second) rule in action. The entire first subordinate clause (I takt med att utbredningen ökar) acts as the first block of information. To keep the main verb in the second position, blir must come right after the comma, before the subject det fina gräset.
Could I use the s-passive (förstörs) instead of blir förstört?
Yes, you could say ...förstörs det fina gräset. However, using blir plus the past participle (förstört) is very common when you want to emphasize the change of state or the final result (getting destroyed) rather than just the ongoing action.
Why is it förstört with a -t at the end?
The past participle förstört acts like an adjective describing gräset (the grass). Since gräs is an ett-word (neuter), the participle must take the neuter -t ending to match it.
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