'De moins en moins de' at beginning of a sentence

Question

the example here is 'De moins en moins de gens s'envoient des lettres'

But in the A2 lesson on de moins en moins /de plus en plus with adverbes and adjectives it says that you can't start a sentence in French with 'De plus en plus'

Why is one sentence right in one context but not in the other? Is there a difference between using de plus en plus and de moins en moins at the beginning of the sentence? Or is it because the rule of not using de plus en plus at the beginning of a sentence is only when using an adjective or adverb? And if the later is the case does it apply to de moins en moins also?

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Julianne !
As you guessed, these are different cases :)
So to recap: - "de plus en plus" or "de moins en moins" (on their own) cannot be placed at the beginning of the sentence, unlike in English. Here's an example that I added to the lesson:"More and more, I knew what I wanted." -> "Je savais de plus en plus ce que je voulais."
- With adjectives, you cannot start a sentence (similarly to English really) because the adjective needs to be close to the noun it refers to.- With adverbs, it depends on the emphasis you want to put on the "circumstance", but I'd advise to avoid the first place too, as it's usually less elegant.
- But with nouns, the group can be subject of the sentence for example, and therefore be at the beginning of it.
I hope that's helpful!Bonne journée !

Answer

Hi Julianne,
Could you pin the lesson you mention as it might contain an error?

Answer

sorry that's a bit technologically challenging for me. I'm asking about this lesson

De plus en plus de and de moins en moins de = more and more and less and less (comparisons of nouns)

with this example - De moins en moins de gens s'envoient des lettres

and from the other lesson called

'De plus en plus and de moins en moins = more and more and less and less (comparisons with adjectives, adverbs, verbs'

which states - 'Note: de plus en plus (on its own) cannot be placed at the beginning of the sentence, unlike in English'.