cada vez mais/cada vez menos

Progressive Comparison

Level 3

Use cada vez mais for 'more and more' and cada vez menos for 'less and less' to show progressive change.

How It Works

The structure cada vez mais/menos is the standard way in Portuguese to express that something is intensifying or diminishing over time. Unlike English, which often changes the adjective (e.g., 'colder and colder'), Portuguese keeps the phrase cada vez fixed.

Key Usage Rules:

  • Invariability: The phrase cada vez never changes to plural (no 'cada vezes').
  • Versatility: It can be used with adjectives, adverbs, nouns, and verbs.
  • Irregular Forms: When using adjectives with irregular comparatives, you must replace mais with the irregular form. For example, use cada vez melhor instead of 'cada vez mais bom'.
  • Agreement: While cada vez mais/menos is fixed, any following adjective must still follow adjective agreement rules with the noun it describes.

Examples (5)

  1. As cidades estão cada vez mais barulhentas.

    Cities are getting noisier and noisier.

    Word by Word: The cities are each time more noisy.

    Notice that 'barulhentas' (noisy) agrees with the feminine plural 'cidades', but 'cada vez mais' remains unchanged.

  2. Ele tem cada vez menos paciência.

    He has less and less patience.

    Word by Word: He has each time less patience.

    Here, the pattern is used with a noun ('paciência') to show a decreasing quantity.

  3. O meu português está cada vez melhor.

    My Portuguese is getting better and better.

    Word by Word: The my Portuguese is each time better.

    Since 'bom' (good) is irregular, we use 'melhor' instead of 'mais bom'.

  4. Eu viajo cada vez menos por causa do trabalho.

    I travel less and less because of work.

    Word by Word: I travel each time less because of the work.

    The phrase follows the verb 'viajo' to show a decrease in the frequency of the action.

  5. Ela acorda cada vez mais cedo.

    She wakes up earlier and earlier.

    Word by Word: She wakes up each time more early.

    In this case, the pattern modifies the adverb 'cedo' (early).

Common Mistakes

  • Using 'mais' with irregular adjectives like grande, bom, or mau.

    A minha casa está cada vez mais grande.
    A minha casa está cada vez maior.

    Just like in English you don't say 'more big,' in Portuguese you must use the irregular comparative forms: melhor, pior, maior, and menor.

  • Pluralizing 'vez' when referring to plural nouns.

    Há cada vezes mais carros na rua.
    Há cada vez mais carros na rua.

    The expression 'cada vez' is a fixed adverbial phrase and never changes to the plural form.

How It Connects

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

cada vez mais/cada vez menosLevel 3Progressive Comparison

Learn This First

To understand 'cada vez mais/menos', learners first need to be comfortable with basic comparisons of superiority and inferiority. This pattern builds on the concepts of 'mais' (more) and 'menos' (less) by adding the temporal progression marker 'cada vez' (each time/increasingly).

Words in This Pattern

cada vez maiscada vez