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In a conversation today, my friend wrote the following

やればやるほど英語が上手{うま}くなる

Another example:

練習をやるほどに強くなる　

I'm guessing the meaning is something close to "If you study, you will become good at English". Is it a coincidence that やるほど are together? Can you add ほど on to any verb and use it like so?

Update: I found that やればやるほど specifically means something along the lines of 'the more [-er]'

3x14
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    http://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/14160/question-on-textbook-activity-using-%EF%BD%9E%E3%81%B0%EF%BD%9E%E3%81%BB%E3%81%A9 , http://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/243/can-x%E3%81%91%E3%82%8C%E3%81%B0x%E3%81%BB%E3%81%A9y-clause-pattern-be-shortened-to-x%E3%81%BB%E3%81%A9y/255#255 , http://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/14332/using-%E3%81%B0-%E3%81%BB%E3%81%A9-with-adverbs , http://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/21430/the-earlier-we-leave-the-earlier-well-arive-type-construction/ ... – Robin Nov 10 '15 at 22:13
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    Yes, you can add `ほど` on any verbs. e.g. [砂糖]{さとう}は[入]{い}れれば[入]{い}れるほど[甘]{あま}くなる, [見]{み}れば[見]{み}るほど[面白]{おもしろ}い. – puhitaku Nov 11 '15 at 07:29

1 Answers1

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"やるほど" means "to the extent that you do it."

The translation is not just "If you study, you will become good at English"

It is "If you study, you will become good at English and the extent to which you become better will be proportional to the amount of study that you do."

Or perhaps "The more you study, the better at English you will become."

tomi
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