# All Slavic languages: the more... the more...



## Thomas1

Hello,

How would you translate this structure into your language please? What do its parts originally mean? Here are some sample sentences (you can change them a little if need be):


[*=1]The more expensive, the better. 
[*=1]The more, the merrier. 
[*=1]The more people I know, the more I love my dog. 

In Polish, we would use 'im... tym...':

Im droższy, tym lepszy. 
Im więcej, tym lepiej. 
Im bardziej znam ludzi, tym bardziej kocham mojego psa. 

'im' and 'tym' are originally pronouns.
'im' means 'them' (as in Dam _im_ jabłko. -- I'll give an apple _to them._).
'tym' means either 'this (one)' (as in: Pojadę _tym_. -- I'll go by _this (one)_.) or 'these (ones)' (as in: Dam _tym_ jabłka. -- I'll give apples to _these (ones)_.).

There is also another structure 'czym... tym...' which can replace 'im... tym...', but it's much less common and many find it incorrect.


----------



## francisgranada

In Slovak:

Čím drahší, tým lepší
Čím viac, tým lepšie
Čím viac ľudí poznám, tým viac mám rád môjho psa


----------



## TriglavNationalPark

Slovenian:


1.) *Čim* dražje, *tem* bolje (adv.) _or_ boljše (adj.).

2.) *Čim* več, *tem* bolje.

3.) Bolj kot poznam ljudi, raje imam svojega psa.  _(The construction "Čim/tem" tends to be used in simpler sentences.)


_Somewhat less frequently, "tem/tem" constructions are used in place of the "čim/tem" constructions. I don't know which form is preferred by Slovenian linguists these days, as their general preferences have been known to shift quite frequently.

As in Polish, *tem* in Slovenian is also the instrumental 3rd person plural indicative pronoun. I never consciously recognized it as such when using "čim/tem" constructions, but that is in fact its etymological derivation.

According to Snoj's _Slovenski etimološki slovar_, *čim* is the singular instrumental form of the Old Slavic interrogative *čь(to)* (= what).


----------



## jazyk

In Czech:

Čím dražší, tím lepší
Čím víc(e), tím lépě
Čím víc poznávám lidi, tím víc mám rád svého psa


----------



## Azori

francisgranada said:


> In Slovak:
> 
> Čím drahší, tým lepší
> Čím viac, tým lepšie
> Čím viac ľudí poznám, tým viac mám rád môjho psa


I'd change these a little (even though all three are more or less correct). Thus:

1. The more expensive, the better. - *Čím drahšie, tým lepšie.*
2. The more, the merrier. - *Čím viac, tým veselšie.* or *Čím viac, tým lepšie.* (literally "The more, the better.")
3. The more people I know, the more I love my dog. - *Čím viac ľudí poznám, tým mám radšej svojho psa.*

In Slovak only "čím-tým" is used. "Čím" and "tým" can also function as pronouns.


----------



## Arath

In Bulgarian

the more... the more... - *колкото по*-... *толкова по*-...


The more expensive, the better. - *Колкото по-скъп(а/о/и), толкова по-добре*. 
The more, the merrier it will be. -* Колкото повече, толкова по-весело ще бъде*. 
Тhe more people I know, the more I love my dog. - *Колкото повече хора познавам, толкова повече обичам кучето си*. 
*колкото* as much/many as.

*Колкото искам*. - As much as I want/like.

*толкова* - this/that/so much/many


----------



## vianie

Concurrently the Slovak *čím - tým* and the Czech *čím - tím* we can still find the Slovak *o čo - o to* and the Czech *o co - o to* sentence format.


----------



## Azori

vianie said:


> Concurrently the Slovak *čím - tým* and the Czech *čím - tím* we can still find the Slovak *o čo - o to* and the Czech *o co - o to* sentence format.


But they do not mean the same, do they? Compare: _Čím drahšie, tým lepšie._ vs _O čo drahšie, o to lepšie._


----------



## bibax

> But they do not mean the same, do they?


They do not mean the same in the terms of mathematics (čím-tím expresses the same ratio, o co-o to expresses the same difference). But in common speech it is mostly not important (the bigger, the dumber).


----------



## LilianaB

Would the Polish im come from cim?


----------



## iobyo

*Macedonian* (што..., тоа...):


Што поскапо, тоа подобро.
Што повеќе, тоа повесело.
Што повеќе луѓе познавам, тоа повеќе го сакам своето куче.


----------



## itreius

Croatian (BCS)

1.
Što/čim skuplje, to/tim bolje.

2.
Što/čim više, to/tim bolje.
Što/čim više, to/tim veselije.

3.
Što/čim više poznajem ljude, to/tim više volim svog psa.


----------



## Ukrainito

Ukrainian uses either *"чим ..., тим..."* or "*що..., то..." *(the first construction being more common and widely used)_

1. *Чим* дорожче, *тим* краще / *Що* дорожче, *то* краще. 
2. *Чим* більше, *тим* веселіше / *Що* більше, *то* веселіше.
3. *Чим* більше людей пізнаю, *тим* більше люблю свого собаку / *Що* більше людей пізнаю, *то* більше люблю свого собаку._


----------



## Sobakus

LilianaB said:


> Would the Polish im come from cim?


 Come on, do you think the Russian им comes from чем? 

The construction is чем.., тем...
1.Чем дороже, тем лучше.
2.Чем больше, тем веселее.
3.Чем больше узнаю людей, тем больше люблю свою собаку/своего пса.


----------



## Duya

itreius said:


> Croatian (BCS)
> 1.
> Što/čim skuplje, to/tim bolje.



The variant with _čim/tim_ is quite uncommon, at least in Serbian and Bosnian idiom.


----------



## Thomas1

Thank you all very much for the answers. 
It looks like Polish 'im' in this construction may be unique.


----------



## ilocas2

Czech:

1. Čím dražší, tím lepší.
2. Čím víc/více, tím líp/lépe.
3. Čím víc/více znám lidí, tím víc/více miluju/miluji svého psa.


----------

