～ば～ほど— The More, The More

• 考えれば考えるほど、分からなくなる。

  Kangaereba kangaeru hodo, wakaranaku naru.

  The more I think about it, the less I understand.

  考えれば (ば-form) + 考える (dict) + ほど expresses the proportional change

• この本は読めば読むほど面白い。

  Kono hon wa yomeba yomu hodo omoshiroi.

  The more you read this book, the more interesting it gets.

  読めば…読むほど links increased reading to increased interest

• 野菜は新鮮なら新鮮なほどおいしい。

  Yasai wa shinsen nara shinsen na hodo oishii.

  The fresher the vegetables, the tastier they are.

  な-adjective uses なら…な + ほど

• ・い-adjectives: 高ければ高いほど (the more expensive...).
• ・な-adjectives & nouns: use なら + な, e.g. 便利なら便利なほど.
• ・The ば part can sometimes be dropped in casual speech: 考えるほど…, but the full form is clearer.

Commonly confused with

The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones ～ば～ほど is tested against.

• ～くらい／～ぐらい — To That Extent
• ～というより — Rather Than, More Like
• ～にしては — Contrary to Expectation
• ～ほど — To the Extent That
• わりに(は) — Considering That