Correlative constructions organize two scales, alternatives, or parallel domains as one discourse unit. Serbian што...то links proportional change, како...тако (и) aligns manners or domains, and не само...него/већ и adds a second, stronger or less expected item. Their power comes from parallel structure: the first half creates an expectation that the second half resolves.
English speakers often preserve the meaning but lose the pairing—especially by copying a non-finite the more X, the more Y phrase. Serbian normally gives each half its own finite clause, its own subject where necessary, and its own clitic domain. For ordinary од / него што comparison rather than paired correlation, see comparative and result clauses.
Што...то: two changes rise or fall together
The neutral productive pattern is што + comparative..., то + comparative.... The first clause names the changing condition; the second names the correlated outcome.
Што дуже чекамо, то ће поправка бити скупља.
The longer we wait, the more expensive the repair will be.
Што више разговарам с њом, то је боље разумем.
The more I talk with her, the better I understand her.
Here што and то are invariant correlative operators. The comparative material still follows ordinary morphology: adverbial дуже, више, боље is invariant, while adjectival скупља agrees with feminine поправка.
Што је проблем сложенији, то нам треба више времена за проверу.
The more complex the problem is, the more time we need to check it.
Masculine проблем requires сложенији. If the noun changes, the comparative changes too: Што је одлука сложенија.... The correlative words do not suspend adjective agreement.
The second correlate can also be све, especially when the outcome is conceived as a continuing trend. Што више вежба, све сигурније говори is natural. То makes the two-part architecture especially explicit; све foregrounds accumulation. Neither choice is a mechanical register marker.
Како се рок приближава, све више људи тражи додатна објашњења.
As the deadline approaches, more and more people ask for additional explanations.
This last example uses како...све, not proportional што...то: it presents gradual temporal development rather than directly measuring one comparative scale against another.
Tense, aspect, and separate subjects
The clauses need not share a subject. Their verbs take whatever tense and aspect the intended relation requires.
Што је публика била тиша, глумац је говорио све спорије.
The quieter the audience became, the more slowly the actor spoke.
The first subject is публика; the second is глумац. English can compress this relation, but Serbian does not treat either subject as controlled by the other clause.
Perfective present is possible when each endpoint is future-oriented:
Што пре завршиш проверу, то ћемо пре послати понуду.
The sooner you finish the review, the sooner we'll send the offer.
Завршиш is perfective present inside the subordinate half and points to a bounded future completion. Imperfective forms instead suit open development: Што дуже радимо, то више примећујемо “The longer we work, the more we notice.”
❌ Што пажљивије проверено, то мање грешака.
Incorrect as a complete neutral sentence — the English non-finite pattern has left both Serbian clauses without finite predicates.
✅ Што се подаци пажљивије проверавају, то је мање грешака у извештају.
The more carefully the data are checked, the fewer errors there are in the report.
The correction also makes subject structure visible: plural подаци controls проверавају, while impersonal existential мање је грешака has its own predicate.
Уколико...утолико: an explicit proportional frame
Уколико...утолико can express the same proportional logic in careful expository prose. It is useful where a writer wants the relation between two degrees to be unmistakable.
Уколико су критеријуми прецизније дефинисани, утолико је поступак оцењивања поузданији.
The more precisely the criteria are defined, the more reliable the evaluation procedure is. (formal/academic)
In contemporary Serbian, уколико is also widely used alone with conditional meaning “if.” That use does not automatically predict an утолико. On this page, the paired construction is specifically proportional. Do not insert утолико into every conditional sentence merely because уколико appears.
Уколико добијемо сагласност до петка, објавићемо позив у понедељак.
If we receive approval by Friday, we will publish the call on Monday.
This is an ordinary open condition, not a correlative scale. The absence of утолико is therefore meaningful, not incomplete grammar.
Како...тако (и): parallel manners and domains
The pair како...тако (и) aligns two ways, groups, settings, or aspects. It often corresponds to English both...and, just as...so, or in X as well as Y.
Одлука ће утицати како на запослене, тако и на спољне сараднике.
The decision will affect both employees and external associates.
The governed preposition на + accusative is repeated in both halves. That repetition preserves exact syntactic parallelism.
Како у теорији, тако и у пракси, једноставно правило понекад има сложене последице.
In theory as well as in practice, a simple rule sometimes has complex consequences.
Како су се услови мењали, тако смо и ми прилагођавали план.
As the conditions changed, so we adjusted the plan too.
The last example aligns two developments over time. И ми adds the sense that our response tracked the external change. Како...тако is not limited to formal writing, although balanced versions are especially useful in exposition and speeches.
Не само...него/већ и: addition with rhetorical escalation
Не само X него и Y and не само X већ и Y mean “not only X but also Y.” Него and већ are both standard here; the choice often reflects rhythm and editorial preference rather than a stable difference in truth conditions.
Нови систем не само да убрзава пријаву него и смањује број грешака.
The new system not only speeds up registration but also reduces the number of errors.
With full clauses, не само да...него/већ и keeps both predicates finite. With phrases, preserve their grammatical role:
Разговарали смо не само о цени него и о условима испоруке.
We discussed not only the price but also the delivery terms.
Both coordinated phrases are о + locative complements of разговарати. Repeating о makes the long correlative frame maximally explicit. Serbian can also let one preposition govern a coordinated pair, as in Разговарали смо о цени и условима; omission of the repeated preposition is therefore not automatically ungrammatical when the shared government remains clear.
When two singular subjects are coordinated, plural agreement is the clearest neutral solution if the predicate follows the complete pair:
Не само директорка него и главни уредник потписали су саопштење.
Not only the director but also the editor-in-chief signed the statement.
Agreement patterns can vary when a predicate precedes a complex correlative subject and the nearest conjunct exerts attraction. Advanced editing can avoid a disputed or heavy pattern: place the complete coordinated subject first and use plural agreement.
Other paired alternatives
Serbian also uses и...и “both...and,” ни...ни “neither...nor,” или...или “either...or,” and било...било “whether...or / be it...or.” Their scope must remain clear.
И рок и буџет су се променили, али се ни циљ ни обим пројекта нису променили.
Both the deadline and the budget changed, but neither the goal nor the scope of the project changed.
Било да радите од куће било из канцеларије, пријавите се на састанак истим линком.
Whether you work from home or from the office, join the meeting using the same link.
With ни...ни, the predicate is negative too: Serbian negative concord gives ни...ни...нису, not an English-style affirmative predicate.
A formal passage: parallelism as an argument
Што су подаци доступнији, то је јавна расправа садржајнија. Нови портал не само да објављује одлуке већ и омогућава грађанима да прате њихово спровођење. Како у погледу транспарентности, тако и у погледу одговорности, корист ће зависити од редовног ажурирања: уколико информације буду потпуније, утолико ће и процена резултата бити поузданија.
The more accessible the data are, the more substantive the public debate becomes. The new portal not only publishes decisions but also enables citizens to track their implementation. In terms of transparency as well as accountability, the benefit will depend on regular updating: the more complete the information is, the more reliable the assessment of results will be. (formal/administrative)
The passage does more than list facts. Each pair creates a rhetorical expectation, then supplies the corresponding scale or domain. That architecture is why correlatives are common in arguments, presentations, and policy prose.
Common Mistakes
Copying English the...the with demonstrative adjectives
❌ То више читам, то више разумем.
Incorrect — the first half of the proportional pair requires што, not demonstrative то.
✅ Што више читам, то више разумем.
The more I read, the more I understand.
Mixing a clause with an unmatched phrase
❌ Измена утиче како на запослене, тако и клијенти морају да промене лозинку.
Incorrect parallelism — the first half is a prepositional phrase, while the second is a full clause.
✅ Измена утиче како на запослене, тако и на клијенте.
The change affects employees as well as clients.
Changing the governed case in the second half
❌ Нисмо говорили само о року него и трошкове.
Incorrect — accusative трошкове cannot serve as the second complement of о; the coordinated item must remain locative.
✅ Нисмо говорили само о року него и о трошковима.
We spoke not only about the deadline but also about the costs.
Using singular agreement after an explicit compound subject
❌ И коначни извештај и пратећа документација је објављена јутрос.
Incorrect in the neutral edited pattern — the two coordinated subjects require plural agreement.
✅ И коначни извештај и пратећа документација објављени су јутрос.
Both the final report and the accompanying documentation were published this morning.
Practice
1. Build proportional pairs
Combine each pair with што...то: (a) deadline approaches / pressure grows; (b) instructions are clearer / fewer people call support; (c) you finish earlier / we leave earlier. Make adjective agreement and aspect explicit.
Possible answers: Што је рок ближи, то је притисак већи. Што су упутства јаснија, то мање људи зове подршку. Што пре завршиш, то ћемо пре кренути.
2. Restore parallel syntax
Repair не само да је цена нижа него и бржа испорука in two ways: once as two clauses and once as two noun phrases.
Possible answers: Не само да је цена нижа него је и испорука бржа. / Предности су не само нижа цена него и бржа испорука.
Key Takeaways
- Што...то correlates two changing scales; each clause retains its own subject, tense, aspect, and clitics.
- Како...тако (и) aligns manners or domains, while не само...него/већ и adds and often escalates.
- Comparative adjectives still agree with their nouns; comparative adverbs remain invariant.
- Match like structures and repeat governed prepositions where needed.
- Use уколико...утолико for an explicit proportional frame, but do not confuse it with ordinary conditional уколико.
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Start learning Serbian →Related Topics
- Comparative, Result, and Purpose ClausesB2 — nego/od comparison, da/te result, kako bi/da purpose.
- Other Subordinators and CorrelativesB1 — ako, iako, premda, kao da, što, correlative pairs.
- Coordinating ConjunctionsA1 — i, a, ali, ili, nego and the comma rules.
- Focus, Contrast, and Final PositionB2 — A focused guide to focus, contrast, and final position in Serbian.
- nego vs od (than)B2 — Choosing the two 'than' constructions.