越来越 (yuè lái yuè) for Gradual Change
Reach for 越来越 when something is changing over time in a single direction — 'more and more,' 'less and less.' Stick it directly in front of an adjective or a feeling-verb (喜欢, 害怕, 想) and the sentence says the property keeps growing as time passes. It's the everyday way to describe gradual change: weather getting hotter, prices getting higher, your Chinese getting better.
Structure
[SUBJECT] 越来越 [ADJECTIVE / PSYCHOLOGICAL VERB]
yuè lái yuè ...
How to Think About It
越来越 IS the intensifier — do NOT add 很 / 非常 in front of the adjective. Native speakers feel '天气越来越很冷' as doubly inflated. Also: 越来越 only works with gradable qualities (heat, fear, happiness, expense). For non-gradable verbs like 吃, 走, 是, switch to 越...越... with a paired clause. The marker 了 at the end often makes the change feel landed: '越来越冷了.'
Examples
天气越来越冷了。
Tiānqì yuè lái yuè lěng le.
The weather is getting colder and colder.
我越来越喜欢中文。
Wǒ yuè lái yuè xǐhuan Zhōngwén.
I like Chinese more and more.
他的身体越来越好。
Tā de shēntǐ yuè lái yuè hǎo.
His health is getting better and better.
Common Mistake
Learners stack 很 or 非常 in front of the adjective because they want extra emphasis. 越来越 already carries the growth; adding 很 makes it ungrammatical to native ears.
天气越来越很冷。
天气越来越冷。
Don't Confuse With
越...越...
Two correlated changes — 'the more X, the more Y' ('越吃越胖'). 越来越 has one slot and tracks change over time; 越...越... has two slots and tracks how one change drives another.
一天比一天 + Adjective
Same direction, day-by-day cadence. Use 一天比一天 to stress that EACH day brings a new step; use 越来越 when you just want to say 'gradually more.'
更加 / 更 + Adjective
A single-point intensifier ('even more'). 更 sets up one comparison; 越来越 describes ongoing trend. '今天更冷' = today is even colder; '天气越来越冷' = the weather keeps getting colder.
Practice
学生 ___ 多了。
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越来越
我越来越 ___ 这首歌。
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喜欢
Put in order: [越来越 / 房子 / 贵 / 了]
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房子越来越贵了。
Translate to Chinese: 'The city is getting busier and busier.'
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城市越来越忙了。
Write a sentence using 越来越 about a change you've noticed in your life recently.
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Example answer: 我的中文越来越好了。 (My Chinese is getting better and better.)
Hear It in Real Episodes
This pattern appears in 1 Fluentide episode: