How to say more and more in Italian?
In English, these expressions are called double comparatives. To convey the meaning of “more and more” in Italian we use the following construction: verb + sempre più + adjective or adverb or noun.
Have a look at some examples:
Giulia sta diventando sempre più intelligente.
Giulia is getting more and more intelligent.
Questo prodotto viene comprato sempre più spesso.
This product is being bought more and more often.
As you know, if the adjective used is short, in English, you can also decide to add the suffix -er to it, and repeat it twice.
In Italian, the construction will be the same.
Fa sempre più freddo.
It is getting colder and colder.
How to say less and less in Italian?
To translate “less and less” in Italian we use exactly the same construction, but we use the word meno (less) instead of più (more). Easy enough, don’t you think?
The structure is: verb + sempre meno + adjective or adverb or noun.
Let’s see some examples:
Giulio mi sembra sempre meno simpatico.
Giulio seems to me less and less pleasant.
C’è sempre meno povertà in quest’area.
There is less and less poverty in this area.
Sempre meno also translates as fewer and fewer, which is used in English with countable nouns:
C’è sempre meno gente qui.
There are fewer and fewer people here.
What is sempre di meno, sempre di più?
In English, you can also use the expressions “more and more” and “less and less” with a verb that is not followed by any adverb, noun, or adjective.
What do you do in Italian then? In this case, when we want to talk about something happening more and more, or a quantity being less and less we simply add the preposition di in between the two words:
- Verb + sempre di più
- Verb + sempre di meno
Let’s have a look at some examples:
Sta piovendo sempre di più in questi giorni.
It is raining more and more these days.
Questi dispositivi costano sempre di meno.
These devices are cheaper and cheaper (cost less and less).
Sto uscendo sempre di meno in questi mesi.
I am going out less and less these months.
Mi piaci sempre di più.
I like you more and more.
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