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a) The more I study, the less I learn.

b) More I study, less I learn.

Could we rewrite the sentence shown under the letter a) in the form shown under the letter b) without breaking any grammatical rule? If not, why not?

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    You can't rewrite the sentence as you have in the form in b without breaking any grammatical rules, but I can't exactly explain why (hence comment rather than answer).
    – Alicia Butteriss
    Commented Jan 31, 2013 at 20:53
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    This question has been asked on ELU, and has what I consider to be an excellent answer. But it's a special case of what I think is a "frozen" construction which I don't think should necessarily be posed on ELL, so I intend to raise the issue on meta before deciding whether to upvote or downvote the question.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jan 31, 2013 at 23:39
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    @Carlo_R.: After all that, I've decided it is a good question! Have an upvote! (I don't have the rep here to see if it's the first, or if I just moved the net figure into positive territory!) The main thing for learners to take away is This is a one-off construction. Learning it won't help with any other construction, and it's not something you need to reproduce yourself.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Feb 1, 2013 at 3:57

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This construction is an idiom which is not governed by any general grammatical rule, but is in effect a rule all by itself. Its structure is

The [x-ER], the [x-ER]

where the two [x-ER]s are parallel expressions in the comparative grade.

The [more], the [merrier]

[x-ER] need not be a simple adjective; it can be a more complex (or compound) phrase or full clause, with the comparative fronted:

The [higher they rise], the [harder they fall]
The [more effort I put into something I care about], the [more satisfaction I get out of it]

But the thes are essential components; they cannot ordinarily be omitted. To be sure, you may hear someone drop them in speech, under the pressure of strong emotion (real or simulated):

Crap. Harder I work, less I get done. Crap.

But that should not be done in writing, unless what you're writing is dialogue.

HISTORICAL NOTE:
As this explains, the thes in this expression aren't the ordinary definite article but ‘worn-down’ forms of an Old English pronoun — which is why the ordinary rules don’t apply.

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As described in this answer, you may rephrase it into if-then construct:

If I study more, then I learn less

This answer suggests that yes, it is governed by a rule called parallel comparative.

See also Google search for ELU; it returns 2,260 hits.

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  • Is "any grammatical rule" correct, or it should be "any grammatical rules"?
    – user114
    Commented Jan 31, 2013 at 21:11
  • @Carlo_R. Did you mean the phrase itself? 18 million hits
    – Be Brave Be Like Ukraine
    Commented Jan 31, 2013 at 21:15
  • No, I mean if I should have used "rule" in plural form, or not.
    – user114
    Commented Jan 31, 2013 at 21:18
  • @Carlo_R. Exactly, "any plural or singular" is the Google query above.
    – Be Brave Be Like Ukraine
    Commented Jan 31, 2013 at 21:23
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    @Carlo_R.: You are mistaken. There is no grammatical rule [are no grammatical rules!] in play here. Alicia's plural and your singular are both perfectly valid, and in practice I would hazard a guess that in this exact context, plural is in fact the more likely choice. Which is probably why Alicia changed it (without necessarily even noticing! :)
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jan 31, 2013 at 23:30

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