Des te minder
Example: Des te minder mensen er komen, des te rustiger het wordt.
Definition
"Des te minder" is a Dutch expression used to indicate that as one thing decreases, another thing correspondingly decreases or becomes less significant. For example, in the phrase "Des te minder mensen er komen, des te rustiger het wordt," it means the fewer people come, the quieter it gets.
Translations
-
all the less -
con menos razón -
encara menys -
d'autant moins -
umso weniger -
meno -
quanto menos
Etymology
The expression "des te minder" originates from Dutch, combining 'des,' an archaic genitive form meaning 'of the,' with 'te,' meaning 'to' or 'by,' and 'minder,' meaning 'less.' This phrase is part of a comparative construction used to express a proportional decrease, reflecting the structure of older Dutch language forms. Did you know that 'des' is rarely used outside such fixed expressions today?
Learn to use this expression actively
"Des te minder" appears in the Vocaplus list "Dutch - General - Idioms and Proverbs - (B1) - set 1", containing 105 commonly used expressions.
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