ば ~ ほど - Grammar Discussion

Grammar Points
#22

勉強すればする程ほど、日本語が上手くなる。
If [you] study, [your] Japanese gets good to the extent that [you] study.

God, this makes so much more sense now! At first I tried to translate it as

If you study, your Japanese gets so good that you study. (What?)

Meaning that first your Japanese gets good and, as a consequence of that, you study.

I think at first I got the wrong idea that the part preceding ほど is always the result/consequence of something. As in:

死ぬほど練習した。
I practiced myself to death.
(I 練習する and, as a consequence of that, I 死ぬ)

涙が出るほど嬉しい。
I am so happy that I could cry.
(I am 嬉しい and, as a consequence of that, I 涙が出る)

But here it’s the other way around: first you study to some extent and, as a consequence of that, your Japanese gets better.

#23

Yeah so I cannot wrap my head around this translation at all…
this is such a confusing topic :sob:

#24

in the grammar dictionary the formation for na-adjectives was listed as na-adjective 1 であればある na-adjective 2 なほど as one of the two ways to form the structure and that is not on the site… I tried entering it in accordance with the examples from the book and it marked me as wrong. it worked for na-adjective 1 なら na-adjective 2 なほど which was good at least.