*Je . . . Desto*

It took me a long time to grasp the way to say things like this:

The more I read the more I want to read.

or

The less I (fill in your own words here) the less I (and here).

etc.

And I'll tell you why. The words that Germans use in these cases sound ridiculously non-German to me. They sound Spanish or something. And I could never remember which word came first.

Here they are:

je

desto

The leo.org dictionary (my lifeline) defines "je . . . desto" as "the . . . the." Yeah. Confusing without an example. So here's one for your enjoyment:

Je mehr ich lese, desto mehr ich lesen will. (The more I read, the more I want to read.)

*Telegraphic Sentences*

Because German verb conjugations have more forms (or it's my opinion anyway), in German, you can leave off your subject and it's already understood who did what. I like it but I've noticed it's left me writing some telegraph-sounding emails to friends in English:

Am finished with the book. Thought it was great. Hope you also enjoy it.

(Bin fertig mit dem Buch. Dachte, dass es super war. Hoffe, dass Du es auch genießt.)

:D