日本語道場

Nihongo Dojo — N3 → N2

Grammar

N3

～ば～ほど

~ba ~hodo

the more... the more

When to use it

Use ～ば～ほど to express that a change in one variable drives a proportional change in another — the standard way to frame trade-offs, escalating risk, or diminishing returns in reports and negotiations. In writing it is preferred over the colloquial ～たら～ほど, and the あれば～ほど shape is what you want for na-adjectives and nouns in formal prose. Note that the negative version ～なければ～ないほど is also available.

Formation

  • Verbs: conditional ば-form + dictionary form + ほど — 使えば使うほど, 遅れれば遅れるほど
  • i-adjectives: ～ければ + ～い + ほど — 早ければ早いほど, 高ければ高いほど
  • na-adjectives: ～であれば + ～な/である + ほど — 複雑であれば複雑なほど / 複雑であるほど (written register favours である)
  • Nouns: ～であれば + ～である + ほど — 大企業であれば大企業であるほど (limited; usually rephrased)
  • Negative: ～なければ～ないほど — 動かなければ動かないほど
  • The second element is often abbreviated to just ほど when the repetition is obvious: 使うほど便利になる

Examples

  • The shorter the explanation, the better it gets through.

  • The longer the decision is delayed, the more the cost balloons.

  • The more complex the terms, the harder it is to predict when we'll reach agreement.

  • The more you know about the other side's situation, the stronger your position in talks.

  • The less we hear back, the more worried we get about the site.