The more… the more… (愈…愈…)

Structure 愈 + condition/action，愈 + result （or: 愈来愈 + adjective）

愈…愈… (yù… yù…) expresses a correlation of degree: the more the first thing happens, the more the second does. It is the literary, written variant of 越…越… (HSK 3), from which it scarcely differs in meaning: 愈想愈生气 = "the more I think about it, the angrier I get". It belongs to essays, longform journalism and polished prose, rarely to everyday speech. It also lives in fixed four-character phrases such as 愈挫愈勇 ("the harder you fall, the braver you get") and in the form 愈来愈… ("more and more…"), the cultured twin of 越来越….

Examples

形xíng势shì愈yù紧jǐn张zhāng，我wǒ们men愈yù要yào保bǎo持chí冷lěng静jìng。
The more tense the situation becomes, the more we must stay calm.
这zhè个ge问wèn题tí愈yù想xiǎng愈yù复fù杂zá。
The more you think about this problem, the more complicated it gets.
真zhēn正zhèng的de勇yǒng者zhě愈yù挫cuò愈yù勇yǒng，从cóng不bù退tuì缩suō。
The truly brave grow bolder the harder they are knocked down, and never flinch.
随suí着zhe年nián龄líng增zēng长zhǎng，他tā对duì故gù乡xiāng的de思sī念niàn愈yù来lái愈yù深shēn。
As he grows older, his longing for his homeland deepens more and more.

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