jo ... desto

The More ... the More (Jo ... Desto)

Level 3

Use jo + comparative in the first clause and desto + comparative in the second to show how two things change together (e.g., 'The more, the merrier').

How It Works

The jo ... desto construction is the standard way to express proportional relationships in Danish.

1. The Comparative Requirement
Both parts of the expression must be followed immediately by a comparative adjective (e.g., bedre) or comparative adverb (e.g., mere). You cannot use the base form or the superlative form of a word.

2. Word Order (The Golden Rule)
This is where most learners struggle. The two clauses follow different rules:

  • The Jo-Clause: This is a subordinate clause. The word order is Subject + Adverb + Verb. If you use a word like ikke or altid, it must come before the verb (e.g., jo mere du ikke træner).
  • The Desto-Clause: This is a main clause where the comparative phrase occupies the first slot. Because of the V2 rule, the verb must come second, resulting in Inversion (Verb + Subject) (e.g., desto stærkere bliver du).

3. Variants
While jo ... desto is the standard formal/neutral choice, you will frequently hear jo ... jo in everyday spoken Danish. The variant jo ... des is more literary but follows the same rules.

Examples (5)

  1. Jo mere du øver dig, desto bedre bliver du.

    The more you practice, the better you become.

    Word by Word: The more you practice yourself, the better become you.

    Notice the S-V order in the first clause (du øver) and the V-S inversion in the second (bliver du).

  2. Jo mere man ikke træner, desto svagere bliver man.

    The more one doesn't exercise, the weaker one becomes.

    Word by Word: The more one not trains, the weaker becomes one.

    This shows the subordinate clause order in the first part: the adverb 'ikke' comes before the verb 'træner'.

  3. Jo før, jo bedre.

    The sooner, the better.

    Word by Word: The sooner, the better.

    This is a common elliptical (shortened) phrase where the verbs are omitted entirely.

  4. Jo mindre jeg spiser, desto mere energi har jeg.

    The less I eat, the more energy I have.

    Word by Word: The less I eat, the more energy have I.

    Even with a long comparative phrase like 'desto mere energi', the verb 'har' must still come immediately after it.

  5. Jo ældre man bliver, desto hurtigere går tiden.

    The older one gets, the faster time goes.

    Word by Word: The older one becomes, the faster goes the time.

    Uses the generic pronoun 'man' and demonstrates inversion in the second clause.

Common Mistakes

  • Forgetting inversion in the second clause.

    Jo mere jeg læser, desto mere jeg lærer.
    Jo mere jeg læser, desto mere lærer jeg.

    In the second clause, the comparative phrase counts as the first element, so the verb must come next (V2 rule).

  • Placing the adverb after the verb in the jo-clause.

    Jo mere jeg læser ikke, desto mindre ved jeg.
    Jo mere jeg ikke læser, desto mindre ved jeg.

    The first clause follows subordinate clause word order, meaning sentence adverbs like 'ikke' must come before the verb.

  • Starting the sentence with 'desto'.

    Desto mere det regner, jo vådere bliver man.
    Jo mere det regner, desto vådere bliver man.

    'Jo' must always introduce the first (conditional) clause; 'desto' is reserved for the second (result) clause.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

jo ... destoLevel 3The More ... the More (Jo ... Desto)

Learn This First

To learn 'jo ... desto', you first need to understand how to form comparative adjectives (like 'mere' or '-ere' endings) because the pattern literally translates to 'the [comparative] ... the [comparative]'. Additionally, you must be familiar with subordinate clause word order, as the first part of this correlative construction functions as a dependent clause.

Words in This Pattern

jodesto