Comparative and proportional clauses (elevated)

Elevated comparative, proportional and contrastive clauses refine the everyday je … desto. They include the conditional dependency je nachdem, ob/wie, the polished proportional je … desto/umso, the dated and partly regional derweil (meanwhile, purely temporal), and, for genuine contrast, wohingegen or adversative während.

In the proportional pattern the comparative opens both clauses; the je-clause is a subordinate clause with verb-final order, and the desto/umso-clause follows with verb-second inversion.

• Je entschlossener er auftrat, desto mehr Vertrauen gewann er. - The more resolutely he appeared, the more trust he gained.
• Je nachdem, wie man es betrachtet, ändert sich das Urteil. - Depending on how you look at it, the verdict changes.
• Er feilte am Text, derweil draußen der Sturm tobte. - He polished the text, while outside the storm raged. (temporal)
• Er lobte den Plan, wohingegen sie ihn ablehnte. - He praised the plan, whereas she rejected it. (contrast)

Common mistakes: In the je-clause the verb goes to the end (je länger man wartet, not je länger wartet man); only the desto-clause inverts. Je nachdem needs a following ob/wie/wann clause. Derweil is dated and partly regional rather than a mark of elevated prose - in neutral prose während fits. And it is purely temporal: for a contrast use wohingegen or adversative während, never derweil.

Elevated comparative, proportional and temporal-contrastive clauses: 'je nachdem, ob/wie', 'derweil', refined 'je … desto'.

'Je nachdem, ob es regnet, …' makes the outcome contingent; 'derweil' contrasts or marks simultaneity; 'je entschlossener er auftrat, desto mehr Vertrauen gewann er' is the proportional pattern.

Gehobene Vergleichs-, Proportional- und Kontrastsätze: 'je nachdem, ob/wie', 'derweil', verfeinertes 'je … desto'.