[JLPT grammar] Mastering the conditional ‘〜ば〜ほど’

Today I am going to share the homework correction quoted from my JLPT N3 course!
The student’s sentence is not correct. Can you find the mistake?

 

[Student’s sentence]

駅から近かったら近いほど家賃が高いです。

*えきからちかかったらちかいほどやちんがたかいです。

 



 

[My correction]

駅から近かったら近いほど家賃が高いです。
→駅から近ければ近いほど家賃が高いです。

The rent is higher for apartments closer to the station.

 

In this case, ‘〜ば〜ほど’ is used to express ‘in proportion to ~, furthermore ~’ or ‘the more ~, the more ~.’ The conditional ‘〜ば’ cannot be replaced by other conditionals like ‘〜たら’ or ‘〜と’ because it is used in combination with ‘〜ほど’.

 

e.g.
日本語(にほんご)を話(はな)せば話すほど、早(はや)く上達(じょうたつ)します。
The more you speak Japanese, the faster you improve.

年(とし)をとればとるほど、忘(わす)れっぽくなる。
The older you get, the more forgetful you become.

お金(かね)は、あればあるほどいいです。
The more money you have, the better.

旅行(りょこう)の荷物(にもつ)は軽(かる)ければ軽いほどいです。
The lighter your travel luggage, the better.

 

I hope my explanation helps you. 😊

 

 

In my JLPT All-in-One Course, all lessons come with homework. If you submit your homework, I will reply with corrections like this.
I can break down the Japanese grammar and point out mistakes, explaining the structure and nuances of Japanese in an easy-to-understand way.
You can also ask me any questions in as much detail as you want. I will teach you until you get it!