conditional N3 common casualpolitewritten
〜ば〜ほど — the more ~, the more ~
〜ば〜ほど ・ ばほど
Builds on 〜ば
Meaning
- the more ~, the more ~ — two changes that scale together
Key sentence
練習すればするほど、上手になる。
The more you practice, the better you get.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb / adjective (repeated) | V-ば + V-(dict) + ほど; Adj-ければ + Adj-い + ほど | 読む → 読めば読むほど; 高い → 高ければ高いほど |
Examples
考えれば考えるほど、分からなくなる。
The more I think about it, the less I understand.
値段が高ければ高いほど、質がいいとは限らない。
The more expensive it is, the better the quality — not necessarily.
上に行けば行くほど、空気が薄くなる。
The higher you go, the thinner the air gets.
Easily confused with
Notes
- な-adjectives and nouns use なら…ほど or であればあるほど (静かなら静かなほど / 便利であればあるほど). The verb/い-adjective is repeated; learners often forget to restate it.
See 〜ば〜ほど in real sentences
Jengo shows 〜ば〜ほど the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar.