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Proportional to the degree of time passed with 〜ば〜ほど

Grammar Explanation: Proportional to with 〜ば〜ほど

Manga panel from ひよ恋 showing example of Proportional to the degree of time passed with 〜ば〜ほど.
ひよ恋 » Volume 1 » Page 40

After a traffic accident sends Hiyori to the hospital, she misses the first few months of the school year. Once she’s finally able to attend, an embarrassing situation occurs, and she runs out of the classroom and hides. Yuushin tracks her down, and Hiyori tells him she should never have come to school.

ひより:
「ケガなんて　とっくに治(なお)ってたの…」
“I'd already healed from my injuries.”
「たげと…　時間(じかん)が経(た)てば経(た)つほど教室(きょうしつ)に入(はい)るのがこわくなってーー…」
“But, the more time passed, the more scary it became to return to class.”

Key Points

  1. 経(た)てば経(た)つほど = the more time passes…

    • This is the proportional pattern 〜ば〜ほど: as one thing increases or continues, another changes along with it.

    • Here both halves use 経(た)つ “to pass (of time)”, so the sense is “the more time passed, the more…”

  2. Why 経(た)てば and 経(た)つほど both appear

    • 経(た)てば is the conditional “when it passes”, while 経(た)つほど marks degree: “to the extent that it passes”.

    • Putting the same verb in both slots is normal with this pattern when Japanese wants to show a direct proportional relationship.

  3. 教室(きょうしつ)に入(はい)るのがこわくなる = become afraid to go into the classroom

    • The clause 教室(きょうしつ)に入(はい)る is turned into the thing that feels scary by の.

    • So 教室(きょうしつ)に入(はい)るのがこわくなって means “it became scary to go into the classroom” or “I became afraid of going into the classroom”.

  4. こわくなって shows a change over time

    • こわい becomes こわくなる, “to become scared” or “to start feeling afraid”.

See Also