The ..., the ...; more and more ...
Progressive comparisons
Learn to describe processes of change and interdependencies between phenomena. Master constructions like "the more, the better" to express increasing intensity of actions in an advanced way.
"The..., the..."
This is a dependent comparative structure, which shows the cause and effect relationship.
In English we use:
📌 Structure:
The + comparative degree, the + comparative degree
🔹 Examples:
| English | English |
|---|---|
| The faster you work, the faster you will finish. | The faster you work, the sooner you finish. |
| The more you learn, the more you know. | The more you study, the more you know. |
| The more expensive the car, the better the engine. | The more expensive the car, the better the engine. |
| The older I get, the less I sleep. | The older I get, the less I sleep. |
✅ Attention: In the part with "more" or "less" we use it with long adjectives or nouns.
2. "More and more..." → "more and more + adjective"
If you want to say that something increases gradually, we use:
📌 Structure:
more and more + adjective (long)
or
comparative + and + comparative (short adjective)
🔹 Examples:
| English | English |
|---|---|
| She becomes more and more tired. | She is getting more and more tired. |
| The English language becomes more and more important. | English is becoming more and more important. |
| Is It's getting colder. | It’s getting colder and colder. |
| He is more and more nicer. | He is nicer and nicer. |
⚠️ Exceptions and notes
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Verbs often used with these structures:
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get, become, grow → e.g. get colder, become more expensive
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With nouns we can use "more and more":
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There is more and more traffic every day.
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With minority or disappearance:
➤ we use less and less-
People have less and less time.
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I feel less and less nervous.
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