Making a correlation between two things you want to say in Chinese often results in nothing but confusion. While the term "more" is often used in English to describe an increase, looking a bit further into this word, which can bring a deeper understanding of the word's construction and use in daily conversation while speaking Chinese.

For starters, you can express the correlation between two opposing things, or compare actions by using "越…越…(yuè…yuè…) the more...the more...", a comparative correlative.

And the repeated comparative of "越来越 (yuè lái yuè) more and more" also expresses things increasing or decreasing, but emphasize a trend or likeliness of a trend. In other words, the repeated comparatives of "more and more" emphasize increasingly.

Let's jump into learning more about each one of these phrases "越…越… (yuè…yuè…) the more...the more..." and "越来越 (yuè lái yuè) more and more" to better help you construct sentences using them in Chinese.

越来越 (Yuè lái yuè) more and more

It is a common phrase used to express that a thing or action is increasing or decreasing in degree or severity into the future. The repeated comparative uses the word "more" twice in English, hence the reason why in English grammar, the name is "repeated comparative".

In Chinese, the "越 (yuè)" is seen as more, while the "来 (lái)" means "to come", literally meaning "there’s more to come", or "there’s more of an increase (or decrease)". When used in a sentence in Chinese, "越来越 (yuè lái yuè) more and more" always follows the subject, and precedes the adjective or mental verb followed by "了 (le)".

The grammatical structure of a sentence that uses "越来越 (yuè lái yuè) more and more", along with an adjective looks like this:

Subj. + 越来越 (yuè lái yuè) + Adj. + 了 (le)

The Sooner the Better! 越快越好 (Yuè kuài yuè hǎo)!

Here are examples of "越来越 (yuè lái yuè) more and more" in use when an adjective is in the sentence:

Kuài yào qīmò kǎoshì le, xuéshēng men de yālì yuè lái yuè dà le.
快要期末考试了，学生们的压力越来越大了。
As the final exam date approaches, the pressure on the students is getting heavier and heavier.

Nǐ de zhōngwén shuō de yuè lái yuè liúlì le.
你的中文说得越来越流利了。
You speak Chinese more and more fluently.

Click "Read More" to Learn Further About the Difference Between "越来越 (yuè lái yuè)" And "越…越… (yuè…yuè…)"