Learn Hardcore Croatian: Što češće ponovim riječ, to je lakše zapamtiti. - The more often I repeat a word, the easier it is to remember it.

Što
- comparative (češće) introduces the first part: “the more often I repeat the word”.
to
- comparative (lakše) introduces the second part: “the easier it is to remember (it)”.

So: Što + comparative, to + comparative ≈ The + comparative, the + comparative in English.

Why is što used here? I thought što just meant “what”.

In this structure, što does not mean “what” as a question word.
Here, što is a degree marker used in this fixed pattern “što X‑er, to Y‑er”, meaning “the X‑er, the Y‑er”.

You’ll see it in many similar sentences:

Što više učim, to više znam. – The more I study, the more I know.
Što ranije dođeš, to bolje. – The earlier you come, the better.

What exactly does to do in "to je lakše zapamtiti"?

Here to is a neuter pronoun functioning like English “it” or “that” as a dummy subject:

to je lakše zapamtiti ≈ “it is easier to remember”.

The real content is the infinitive zapamtiti (to remember), but Croatian usually needs a subject, so to fills that role, just like in:

To je lako reći. – It is easy to say (that).

Why is ponovim used instead of ponavljam?

Ponovim is the perfective verb ponoviti, 1st person singular present.
In Croatian, the present tense of a perfective verb often has a future or single-completed‑event meaning: “each time I (successfully) repeat it.”

Compare:

Što češće ponovim riječ… – The more often I (manage to) repeat the word (as discrete acts)…
Što češće ponavljam riječ… – The more often I am repeating the word (ongoing/repeated activity)…

Both are possible, but ponovim focuses more on each individual repetition as a completed action.

Why is zapamtiti (perfective) used instead of pamtiti (imperfective)?

Zapamtiti is perfective, meaning “to memorize / to come to remember (successfully)”, i.e. it highlights the result: having the word stored in memory.
Pamtiti is imperfective, more about the ongoing state or process of remembering.

Here the idea is: “the easier it is to (successfully) memorize it”, so the perfective zapamtiti is natural.

Which case is riječ in here, and how can I tell?

Riječ is in the accusative singular, because it is the direct object of ponovim (I repeat what? → riječ).

For many feminine nouns like riječ, the nominative and accusative singular forms are identical (both riječ), so you tell the case by function in the sentence, not by form:

Riječ je duga. – The word is long. (subject → nominative)
Ponovim riječ. – I repeat the word. (object → accusative)

Is češće an adjective or an adverb here, and how is it formed?

Here češće is a comparative adverb, modifying the verb ponovim (repeat more often).
It comes from the basic adverb često (often):

često – often
češće – more often
najčešće – most often

So što češće ponovim literally = “the more often I repeat”.

Can I say "Što riječ češće ponovim" instead? How fixed is the word order?

The correlative frame (što … to …) and the comparative phrase (što češće) are quite fixed and normally kept together.

These are natural:

Što češće ponovim riječ, to je lakše zapamtiti.
Što češće riječ ponovim, to je lakše zapamtiti. (slightly different emphasis, but OK)

But Što riječ češće ponovim sounds awkward, because you are splitting što from its comparative češće. In practice, keep što directly before the comparative: što češće, što više, što ranije, etc.

Can I omit je and say just "to lakše zapamtiti"?

In a normal, full sentence, you should keep je:

to je lakše zapamtiti – it is easier to remember.

Omitting je would sound like a fragment or a very colloquial/telegraphic style. In this comparative construction, to je lakše zapamtiti is the standard form.

Why is there no explicit object like je or ju (“it”) after zapamtiti?

The object (the word) is already clearly mentioned in the first clause, so Croatian often omits a repeated direct object if it’s obvious from context.

A more explicit version could be:

Što češće ponovim riječ, to ju je lakše zapamtiti. – …the easier it is to remember it.

But dropping ju here is natural and common speech; the listener understands that zapamtiti still refers to riječ.

Can I use što više instead of što češće? How does that change the meaning?

Yes, but the nuance shifts slightly:

Što češće ponovim riječ… – focuses on frequency (how often you repeat it).
Što više ponovim riječ… / Što više ponavljam riječ… – focuses on amount/quantity, which can mean either more total repetitions or more time spent repeating.

Both can be translated “the more I repeat the word…”, but češće points more clearly to repeating at shorter intervals / more frequently.

How would the sentence change if the subject were “we” instead of “I”?

You only need to change the verb ending:

Što češće ponovimo riječ, to je lakše zapamtiti.
= The more often we repeat the word, the easier it is to remember (it).

Croatian usually drops the pronoun (mi), because the verb ending ‑imo already shows that the subject is we.